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of  books  is  the 
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GENERAL  EDITOR 
WILBUR  LUCIUS  CROSS 

PROFESSOR  OF  ENGLISH  IN  YALE  UNIVERSITY 


Woodrow  Wilson 


PRESIDENT    WILSON'S 
ADDRESSES 


EDITED  BY 

GEORGE  MCLEAN  HARPER 

PROFESSOR  IN  PRINCETON  UNIVERSITY;  AUTHOR  OF  "MASTERS   OF   FRENCH 

LITERATURE,"     "  LIFE    OF    SAINTE-BEUVE,"    AND    "  WILLIAM 

WORDSWORTH,  HIS  LIFE,  WORKS,  AND  INFLUENCE  " 


NEW  YORK 
HENRY  HOLT  AND  COMPANY 


Copyright  1918, 

BY 
HENRY  HOLT  AND  COMPANY 


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CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Introduction  .............................................     vii 

First  Inaugural  Address  ...................................  3 

First  Address  to  Congress  .................................  9 

Address  on  the  Banking  System  ............................  13 

Address  at  Gettysburg  ........................  .  ...........  17 

Address  on  Mexican  Affairs  ................................  21 

Understanding  America  ...................................  29 

Address  before  the  Southern  Commercial  Congress  ...........  36 

The  State  of  the  Union  ...................................  42 

Trusts  and  Monopolies  ...................................  54 

Panama  Canal  Tolls  ......................................  63 

The  Tampico  Incident  ....................................  65 

In  the  Firmament  of  Memory  .............................  70 

Memorial  Day  Address  at  Arlington  ........................  74 

Closing  a  Chapter  ........................................  77 

Annapolis  Commencement  Address  .........................  80 

The  Meaning  of  Liberty  ...................  ...........  ----  85 

American  Neutrality  ......................................  95 

•Appeal  for  Additional  Revenue  ............................  98 

The  Opinion  of  the  World  .................................  102 

The  Power  of  Christian  Young  Men  ........................  106 

Annual  Address  to  Congress  ....................  ,  ..........  1  18 

A  Message  ..............................................  132 

Address  before  the  United  States  Chamber  of  Commerce  ......  135 

To  Naturalized  Citizens  ..........................  .........  149 

Address  at  Milwaukee  ....................................  154 

The  Submarine  Question  .........  ,  ........................  166 

American  Principles  ......................................  i73 

The  Demands  of  Railway  Employees  .......................  1  79 

Speech  of  Acceptance  .....................................  187 


vi  Contents 

PAGE 

Lincoln's  Beginnings 205 

The  Triumph  of  Women's  Suffrage 210 

The  Terms  of  Peace 215 

Meeting  Germany's  Challenge 224 

Request  for  Authority 230 

Second  Inaugural  Address 236 

The  Call  to  War 241 

To  the  Country 253 

The  German  Plot 259 

Reply  to  the  Pope 265 

Labor  must  be  Free 269 

The  Call  for  War  with  Austria-Hungary 279 

Government  Administration  of  Railways 292 

The  Conditions  of  Peace 297 

Force  to  the  Utmost 306 


INTRODUCTION 

These  addresses  of  President  Woodrow  Wilson  represent 
only  the  most  recent  phase  of  his  intellectual  activity. 
They  are  almost  entirely  concerned  with  political  affairs, 
and  more  specifically  with  defining  Americanism.  It  will 
not  be  forgotten,  however,  that  the  life  of  Mr.  Wilson  as 
President  of  the  United  States  is  but  a  short  period  com 
pared  with  the  whole  of  his  public  career  as  professor  of 
jurisprudence,  history,  and  politics,  as  President  of 
Princeton  University,  as  Governor  of  New  Jersey,  as  an 
orator,  and  as  a  writer  of  many  books. 

Surprise  has  been  expressed  that  a  man,  after  reaching 
the  age  of  fifty,  should  be  able  to  step  from  the  "quiet" 
life  of  a  teacher  and  author  into  the  resounding  regions  of 
politics;  but  Mr.  Wilson's  life  as  a  scholar,  professor,  and 
author  was  not  at  all  quiet  in  the  sense  of  being  easy  or 
untouched  with  exciting  chances  and  changes,  and,  in  the 
second  place,  he  carried  into  politics  the  steadying  ideals 
and  the  methodical  habits  of  his  former  occupation. 

As  these  addresses  themselves  prove,  he  has  retained 
something  of  the  teacher's  interest  in  showing  the  rela 
tion  between  specific  instances  and  the  general  forms  of 
thought  or  action  of  which  they  are  a  part.  Not  fact 
alone,  but  principle,  is  what  he  seeks  to  discover  to  his 
audiences.  In  the  addresses  made  in  1913  it  is  apparent 
that  his  main  effort  was  to  fasten  attention  upon  the 
principles  of  international  justice  and  good  will  and  to 
restrain  the  impulses  of  those  Americans  who  were  inclined 
to  hasty  action  with  reference  to  Mexico.  From  the 

vii 


viii  Introduction 

beginning  of  the  Great  War  to  a  point  not  much  earlier 
than  our  own  entrance  into  the  struggle,  he  counselled 
neutrality  and  inaction,  with  what  motives  one  must 
judge  from  his  statements  and  from  events.  Only  a  few 
speeches  belonging  to  this  period  have  been  included  in 
the  present  collection.  When  it  became  practically  certain 
that  war  between  the  United  States  and  Germany  was 
inevitable,  there  came  into  his  utterances  a  new  temper 
and  a  more  direct  kind  of  eloquence.  With  scarcely  an 
exception,  this  collection  includes  every  one  of  his  addresses 
made  between  August,  1916,  and  February,  1918. 

Some  of  the  addresses  are  state  papers,  read  to  Con 
gress,  and  were  carefully  composed.  Others,  delivered  in 
various  places,  appear  to  have  been  more  or  less  extem 
poraneous.  All  are  full  of  their  author's  political  philos 
ophy,  and  many  of  them  contain  expressions  of  his  opinions 
on  general  subjects,  such  as  personal  character  and  conduct. 

In  order  more  fully  to  appreciate  the  weight  of  expe 
rience  and  the  maturity  of  reflection  which  give  value  to 
his  words,  it  will  be  worth  while  to  consider  Mr.  Wilson's 
entire  career  as  a  scholar  and  man  of  letters,  paying 
particular  attention  to  the  growth  of  his  political  ideals 
and  to  the  qualities  of  his  style. 

To  be  a  literary  artist,  a  writer  must  possess  a  construc 
tive  imagination.  He  must  be  a  man  of  feeling  and  have 
the  gift  of  imparting  to  others  some  share  of  his  own  emo 
tions.  On  almost  every  page  of  President  Wilson's  writ 
ings,  as  in  almost  all  his  policies,  whether  educational  or 
political,  is  stamped  the  evidence  of  shaping,  visionary 
power.  Those  of  us  who  have  known  him  many  years 
remember  well  that  in  his  daily  thought  and  speech  he 
habitually  proceeded  by  this  same  poetic  method,  first 
growing  warm  with  an  idea  and  then  by  analogy  and  figure 
kindling  a  sympathetic  heat  in  his  hearers. 


Introduction  ix 

The  subjects  that  may  excite  an  artist's  imagination  are 
infinitely  numerous  and  belong  to  every  variety  of  con 
ceivable  life.  A  Coleridge  or  a  Renan  will  make  literature 
out  of  polemical  theology;  a  Huxley  will  write  on  the 
physical  basis  of  life  with  emotion  and  in  such  a  way  as  to 
infect  others  with  his  own  feelings;  a  Macaulay  or  a  Froude 
will  give  what  color  he  please  to  the  story  of  a  nation  and 
compel  all  but  the  most  wary  readers  to  see  as  through  his 
eyes.  We  are  too  much  accustomed  to  reserve  the  title  of 
literary  artist  for  the  creator  of  fiction,  whether  in  prose  or 
in  verse.  Mr.  Wilson  is  no  less  truly  an  artist  because  the 
vision  that  fires  his  imagination,  the  vision  he  has  spent  his 
life  in  making  clear  to  himself  and  others  and  is  now  striv 
ing  to  realize  in  action,  is  a  political  conception.  He  has 
seen  it  in  terms  of  life,  as  a  thing  that  grows,  that  speaks, 
that  has  faced  dangers,  that  is  full  of  promise,  that  has 
charm,  that  is  fit  to  stir  a  man's  blood  and  demand  a 
world's  devotion ;  no  wonder  he  has  warmed  to  it,  no  won 
der  he  has  clothed  it  in  the  richest  garments  of  diction  and 
rhythm  and  figure. 

There  are  small  artists  and  great  artists.  Granted  an 
equal  portion  of  imagination  and  an  equal  command  of 
verbal  resources,  and  still  there  will  be  this  difference.  It 
is  an  affair  of  more  or  less  intellectual  depth  and  more  or 
less  character.  If  character  were  the  only  one  of  these 
two  things  to  be  considered  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Wilson's 
writings,  one  might  with  little  or  no  hesitation  predict  that 
the  best  of  them  would  long  remain  classics.  They  are 
full  of  character,  of  a  high  and  fine  character.  They  have 
a  tone  peculiar  to  themselves,  like  a  man's  voice,  which 
is  one  of  the  most  unmistakable  properties  of  a  man.  It 
would  be  no  reflection  on  an  author  to  say  that  his  point 
of  view  in  fundamental  matters  had  changed  in  the  course 
of  thirty  or  forty  years;  but  the  truth  is  that  with  reference 


x  Introduction 

to  his  great  political  ideal  Mr.  Wilson's  point  of  view  has 
not  widely  changed.  The  scope  of  his  survey  has  been 
enlarged,  he  has  filled  up  the  intervening  space  with  a 
thousand  observations,  he  sees  his  object  with  a  more 
penetrating  and  commanding  eye;  but  it  is  the  same  object 
that  drew  to  itself  his  youthful  gaze,  and  has  had  its  part  in 
making  him 

"The  generous  spirit,  who,  when  brought 
Among  the  tasks  of  real  life,  hath  wrought 
Upon  the  plan  that  pleased  his  boyish  thought." 

The  world,  in  time,  will  judge  of  the  amount  of  knowl 
edge  and  the  degree  of  purely  intellectual  force  that 
Mr.  Wilson  has  applied  in  his  field  of  study.  A  contem 
porary  cannot  well  pronounce  such  a  judgment,  especially 
if  the  province  be  not  his  own. 

In  the  small  space  at  my  disposal  I  shall  try,  first,  to 
say  what  I  think  is  the  political  conception  or  idea  upon 
which  Mr.  Wilson  has  looked  so  steadily  and  with  so  deep 
emotion  that  he  has  made  of  it  a  poetical  subject.  And 
then  I  shall  venture  to  distinguish  those  processes  of 
imagination,  that  artistic  method,  which  we  call  style,  by 
which  he  has  elucidated  its  meaning  for  his  readers  so  as  to 
win  for  it  their  intelligent  and  moved  regard.  The  inquiry 
will  take  into  account  his  earliest  book,  Congressional 
Government,  published  in  1885,  Division  and  Reunion, 
1893,  An  Old  Master  and  Other  Political  Essays,  1893, 
Mere  Literature  and  Other  Essays,  1896,  George  Washington, 
1897,  The  State,  written  1889,  rewritten  1898,  A  History  of 
the  American  People,  1902,  Constitutional  Government  in  the 
United  States,  1908,  and  a  volume,  issued  very  recently  in 
England,  containing  some  of  the  President's  statements  on 
the  war  and  entitled  America  and  Freedom. 

Like  a  strong  current  through  these  works  runs  the 


Introduction  xi 

doctrine  that  in  a  good  government  the  law-making  power 
should  be  also  the  administering  power  and  should  bear 
full  and  specific  responsibility;  safeguards  against  ill- 
considered  action  being  provided  in  two  directions,  by  the 
people  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other  hand  by  law  and 
custom,  these  latter  being  considered  historically,  as  an 
organic  growth.  He  finds  the  elements  and  essentials  of 
this  doctrine  in  our  Constitution,  though  somewhat  ob 
scured  by  the  old  "  literary  "  theory  of  checks  and  balances. 
He  finds  it  more  fully  acknowledged  in  the  British  Consti 
tution.  He  finds  it  originating  in  our  English  race,  enun 
ciated  at  Runnymede,  developing  by  a  slow  but  natural 
growth  in  English  history,  sanctioned  in  the  Petition  of 
Right,  the  Revolution  of  1688,  and  the  Declaration  of 
Rights,  achieved  for  us  in  our  own  Revolution,  and  illus 
trated  by  the  implied  powers  of  Congress  and  the  more 
directly  exercised  powers  of  the  House  of  Commons.  It  is  a 
corollary  of  this  doctrine  that  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  to  whom  in  the  veto  and  in  his  peculiar  relations  to 
the  Senate  our  Constitution  gives  a  very  real  legislative 
function,  should  associate  himself  closely  with  Congress, 
not  merely  as  one  who  may  annul  but  also  as  one  who 
initiates  policies  and  helps  to  translate  them  into  laws. 
In  his  Congressional  Government,  begun  when  he  was  a 
student  in  Princeton  and  finished  before  he  was  twenty- 
eight  years  old,  Mr.  Wilson  clearly  indicates  his  dissatisfac 
tion  with  the  tradition  which  would  set  the  executive  apart 
from  the  legislative  power  as  a  check  against  it  and  not  a 
cooperating  element;  and  it  is  a  remarkable  proof  of  the 
man's  integrity  and  persistent  personality  that  one  of 
his  first  acts  as  President  was  to  go  before  the  Congress  as 
if  he  were  its  agent. 

If  any  proof  of  his  democracy  were  required,  one  might 
point  to  his  rather  surprising  statement,  which  he  has  re- 


xii  Introduction 

peated  more  than  once,  that  the  chief  value  of  Congres 
sional  debate  is  to  arouse  and  inform  public  opinion.  He 
regards  the  will  of  the  people  as  the  real  source  of  govern 
mental  policy.  Yet  he  is  very  impatient  of  those  theories 
of  the  rights  of  man  which  found  favor  in  France  in  the 
eighteenth  century  and  have  been  the  mainspring  of 
democratic  movements  on  the  Continent  of  Europe.  He 
regards  political  liberty,  as  we  know  it  in  this  country,  as  a 
peculiar  possession  of  the  English  race  to  which,  in  all  that 
concerns  jurisprudence,  we  Americans  belong. 

The  other  safeguard  against  arbitrary  action  by  the 
combined  legislative-administrative  power  is,  he  declares, 
national  respect  for  the  spirit  of  those  general  legal  con^ 
ceptions  which,  through  many  centuries,  have  been  mak 
ing  themselves  part  and  parcel  of  our  racial  instinct.  He 
perceives  that  the  British  Constitution,  though  unwritten, 
is  as  effective  as  ours  and  commands  obedience  fully  as 
much  as  ours,  and  that  both  appeal  to  a  certain  ingrained 
legal  sense,  common  to  all  the  English-speaking  peoples. 
These  peoples  do  not  really  have  revolutions.  What  we 
call  the  American  Revolution  was  only  the  reaffirming  of 
principles  which  were  as  precious  in  the  eyes  of  most 
Englishmen  as  they  were  in  the  eyes  of  Washington, 
Hamilton,  and  Madison,  but  which  had  been  for  a  time 
and  owing  to  peculiar  circumstances,  neglected  or  con 
travened.  Political  development  in  this  family  of  nations 
does  not,  he  maintains,  proceed  by  revolution,  but  by 
evolution.  On  all  these  points  his  Constitutional  Govern 
ment  in  the  United  States  is  only  a  richer  and  more  mature 
statement  and  illustration  of  the  ideas  expressed  in  his 
Congressional  Government.  The  main  thesis  of  his  George 
Washington  is  that  the  great  Virginian  and  first  American 
was  the  truest  Englishman  of  his  time,  a  modern  Hampden 
or  Eliot,  a  Burke  in  action.  Again  and  again  he  pays 


Introduction  xiii 

respect  to  Chief  Justice  Marshall,  who  represented,  in  our  / 
early  history,  the  conception  of  law  as  something  in  its 
breadth  and  majesty  older  and  more  sacred  than  the 
decrees  of  any  particular  legislature,  and  yet  capable  of 
being  so  interpreted  as  to  accommodate  itself  to  progress. 
Mr.  Wilson  has  from  the  beginning  been  an  admiring 
student  of  Burke.  And  if  Burke  has  been  his  study, 
Bagehot  has  been  his  school-master.  The  choice  of  book 
and  teacher  is  significant.  Mere  Literature  shows  how 
Mr.  Wilson  revered  them  in  1896;  his  public  life  proves 
that  he  learned  their  lessons  well.  In  An  Old  Master  and 
Other  Essays,  he  had  already  borne  witness  to  the  genius  of 
Adam  Smith  and  John  Stuart  Mill,  who,  as  compared 
with  Continental  writers,  illustrate  in  the  field  of  economics 
the  Anglo-Saxon  spirit  of  respect  for  customs  that  have 
grown  by  organic  processes. 

Mr.  Wilson's  Division  and  Reunion  is  an  admirable 
treatment  of  a  question  upon  which  a  Southerner  might 
have  been  expected  to  write  as  a  Southerner.  He  has  dis 
cussed  it  as  an  American.  His  well-known  text-book  The 
State,  which  has  been  revised  and  frequently  reprinted, 
discusses  the  chief  theories  of  the  origin  of  government, 
describes  the  administrative  systems  of  Greece  and  Rome 
and  of  the  great  nations  of  medieval  and  modern  Europe 
and  of  the  United  States,  and  treats  in  detail  of  the  func 
tions  and  objects  of  government,  with  special  reference  to 
law  and  its  workings.  His  History  of  the  American  People, 
though  it  contains  many  passages  of  insight  and  has  the 
charm  that  comes  from  intense  appreciation  of  details,  is 
too  diffuse  and  repetitious.  A  great  history  should  be  a 
combination  of  a  chronicle  and  a  treatise;  it  should  be  a 
record  of  facts  and  at  the  same  time  a  philosophical  exposi 
tion  of  an  idea.  Mr.  Wilson's  five-volume  work  is  insuffi 
cient  as  a  chronicle  and  too  long  for  an  essay.  Yet  an 


xiv  Introduction 

essay  it  really  is.  Moreover,  unless  I  myself  am  blinded  by 
prejudice,  it  makes  too  much  of  the  errors  committed  by 
our  government  in  the  reconstruction  period  after  the 
Civil  War.  On  the  whole,  with  all  their  faults,  the  ad 
ministrations  of  Grant  and  Hayes  accomplished  a  task  of 
enormous  difficulty,  with  remarkably  little  impatience  and 
intemperance.  The  disadvantage  of  having  been  written 
originally  under  pressure  in  monthly  instalments,  for  a 
periodical,  is  clearly  visible  in  the  History.  There  is  a  too 
constant  effort  to  catch  the  eye  with  picturesque  de 
scription.  Nevertheless,  in  this  book,  as  in  the  others, 
Mr.  Wilson  evokes  in  his  readers  a  noble  image  of  that 
government,  constitutional,  traditional,  democratic,  self- 
developing,  which,  from  the  days  of  his  youth,  aroused  in 
him  a  poetic  enthusiasm. 

And  now  for  the  way  his  imagination  works  and  clothes 
itself  in  language.  The  quality  of  his  mind  is  poetic,  and 
his  style  is  highly  figurative.  There  have  been  very  few 
professors,  lecturing  on  abstruse  subjects,  such  as  econom 
ics,  jurisprudence,  and  politics,  who  have  dared  to  give  so 
free  a  rein  to  an  instinct  frankly  artistic.  In  the  early  days 
of  his  career,  Mr.  Wilson  was  invited  to  follow  two  courses 
which  were  supposed  to  be  inconsistent  with  each  other. 
The  so-called  "scientific"  method,  much  admired  at  that 
time  even  when  applied  to  subjects  in  which  philosophic 
insight  or  a  sense  for  beauty  are  the  proper  guides,  was 
being  urged  upon  the  rising  generation  of  scholars.  Per 
haps  the  Johns  Hopkins  University  was  the  center  of  this 
impulse  in  America;  at  least  it  was  thought  to  be,  though 
the  source  was  almost  wholly  German.  If  he  had  had  to  be 
a  dry-as-dust  in  order  to  be  a  writer  on  politics  and  history, 
Mr.  Wilson  would  have  preferred  to  turn  his  attention  to 
biography  and  literary  criticism.  But  he  promptly  re 
solved  to  disregard  the  warnings  of  pedants  and  to  be  a 


Introduction  xv 

man  of  letters  though  a  professor  of  history  and  politics. 
I  well  remember  the  irritation,  sometimes  amused  and 
sometimes  angry,  with  which  he  used  to  speak  of  those  who 
were  persuaded  that  scholarship  was  in  some  way  con 
taminated  by  the  touch  of  imagination  or  philosophy.  He 
at  least  would  run  the  risk.  And  so  he  set  himself  to  work 
cultivating  the  graces  of  style  no  less  assiduously  than  the 
exactness  of  science.  There  is  a  distinct  filiation  in  his 
diction,  by  which,  from  Stevenson  to  Lamb  and  from 
Lamb  to  Sir  Thomas  Browne,  one  can  trace  it  back  to  the 
quaint  old  prose  writers  of  the  seventeenth  century.  I 
remember  his  calling  my  attention,  in  1890,  or  there 
abouts,  to  the  delightful  stylistic  qualities  of  those  wor 
thies.  Many  of  his  colors  are  from  their  ink-horns,  in 
which  the  pigments  were  of  deep  and  varied  hues.  When 
he  is  sententious  and  didactic  he  seems  to  have  caught 
something  of  Emerson's  manner.  And  indeed  there  is  in 
all  his  writings  a  flavor  of  optimism  and  a  slightly  dog 
matic,  even  when  thoroughly  gentle  and  persuasive,  tone 
which  he  has  in  common  with  the  New  England  sage. 
But  in  spite  of  all  these  resemblances  to  older  authors, 
Mr.  Wilson  gives  proof  in  his  style  of  a  masterful  inde 
pendence.  He  is  constantly  determined  to  think  for  him 
self,  to  get  to  the  bottom  of  his  subject,  and  finally  to 
express  the  matter  in  terms  of  his  own  personality.  Espe 
cially  is  this  evident  in  his  early  works,  where  he  struggles 
manfully  to  be  himself,  even  in  the  choice  of  words  and 
phrases,  weighing  and  analyzing  the  most  current  idioms 
and  often  making  in  them  some  thoughtful  alteration  the 
better  to  express  his  exact  meaning.  His  literary  training 
appears  to  have  been  almost  wholly  English.  There  are 
few  traces  in  his  writings  of  any  classical  reading  or  of 
any  first-hand  acquaintance  with  French,  German,  or 
Italian  authors.  And  indeed  in  the  substance  of  his 


xvi  Introduction 

thought  I  wonder  if  he  is  sufficiently  hospitable  to  foreign 
ideas,  especially  to  the  vast  body  of  comment  on  the 
French  Revolution.  I  imagine  few  Continental  authorities 
would  agree  with  him  in  his  comparatively  low  estimate  of 
the  importance  of  that  great  movement,  which  he  seems 
to  regard  with  almost  unmitigated  disapproval. 

In  Mr.  Wilson's  addresses  and  public  letters  concerning 
the  War  he  re-affirms  his  principles  and  applies  them  with 
high  confidence  to  the  fateful  problems  of  this  time.  His 
tone  has  become  vastly  deeper  and  sounder  since  he  made 
his  great  decision,  and  from  his  Speech  to  Congress,  on 
February  3,  1917,  to  his  recent  Baltimore  appeal,  it  has 
rung  true  to  every  good  impulse  in  the  hearts  of  our  people. 
His  letter  to  the  Pope  is  in  every  way  his  master-piece, 
in  style,  in  temper,  and  in  power  of  thought.  He  has  led 
his  country  to  the  place  it  ought  to  occupy,  by  the  side 
of  that  other  English  democracy  whose  institutions,  ideals, 
and  destiny  are  almost  identical  with  our  own,  as  he  has 
demonstrated  in  the  writings  of  half  a  lifetime.  Let  us 
hope  there  was  prophetic  virtue  in  a  passage  of  his  Consti 
tutional  Government,  where,  speaking  of  the  relation  be 
tween  our  several  States  and  the  Union  that  binds  them 
together,  he  says  they  amay  yet  afford  the  world  itself 
the  model  of  federation  and  liberty  it  may  in  God's 
providence  come  to  seek." 

No  one  can  rise  from  a  perusal  of  the  great  mass  of 
Mr.  Wilson's  writings  without  an  almost  oppressive  sense 
of  his  unremitting  and  strenuous  industry.  From  his 
senior  year  in  college  to  the  present  day  he  has  borne  the 
anxieties  and  responsibilities  of  authorship.  The  work  has 
been  done  with  extreme  conscientiousness  in  regard  to 
accuracy  and  clearness  of  thinking  and  with  sedulous  care 
for  justness  and  beauty  of  expression.  It  might  well  crown 
a  life  with  honor.  And  when  we  remember  the  thousands 


Introduction  xvli 

of  his  college  lectures  and  the  hundreds  of  his  miscel 
laneous  addresses  which  have  found  no  record  in  print, 
when  we  recall  the  labors  of  university  administration 
which  crowded  upon  him  in  middle  life,  when  we  consider 
the  spectacle  of  his  calm,  prompt,  orderly,  and  energetic 
performance  of  public  duty  in  these  latter  years,  our  ad 
miration  for  the  literary  artist  is  enhanced  by  our  pro 
found  respect  for  the  man.* 

*  A  considerable  part  of  this  Introduction  appeared  originally  as 
an  article  in  The  Princeton  Alumni  Weekly. 


PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  ADDRESSES 


FIRST  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS 

[Delivered  at  the  Capitol,  in  Washington,  March  4,  1913.] 

There  has  been  a  change  of  government.  It  began  two 
years  ago,  when  the  House  of  Representatives  became 
Democratic  by  a  decisive  majority.  It  has  now  been 
completed.  The  Senate  about  to  assemble  will  also  be 
Democratic.  The  offices  of  President  and  Vice-President  5 
have  been  put  into  the  hands  of  Democrats.  What  does 
the  change  mean?  That  is  the  question  that  is  uppermost 
in  our  minds  to-day.  That  is  the  question  I  am  going  to 
try  to  answer,  in  order,  if  I  may,  to  interpret  the  occasion. 

It  means  much  more  than  the  mere  success  of  a  party.  10 
The  success  of  a  party  means  little  except  when  the  Nation 
is  using  that  party  for  a  large  and  definite  purpose.  No 
one  can  mistake  the  purpose  for  which  the  Nation  now 
seeks  to  use  the  Democratic  Party.  It  seeks  to  use  it  to 
interpret  a  change  in  its  own  plans  and  point  of  view.  15 
Some  old  things  with  which  we  had  grown  familiar,  and 
which  had  begun  to  creep  into  the  very  habit  of  our  thought 
and  of  our  lives,  have  altered  their  aspect  as  we  have 
latterly  looked  critically  upon  them,  with  fresh,  awakened 
eyes;  have  dropped  their  disguises  and  shown  themselves  20 
alien  and  sinister.  Some  new  things,  as  we  look  frankly 
upon  them,  willing  to  comprehend  their  real  character, 
have  come  to  assume  the  aspect  of  things  long  believed  in 
and  familiar,  stuff  of  our  own  convictions.  We  have  been 
refreshed  by  a  new  insight  into  our  own  life.  25 

We  see  that  in  many  things  that  life  is  very  great.  It  is 
incomparably  great  in  its  material  aspects,  in  its  body  of 
wealth,  in  the  diversity  and  sweep  of  its  energy,  in  the 

3 


4  Wood  row  Wilson 

industries  which  have  been  conceived  and  built  up  by  the 
genius  of  individual  men  and  the  limitless  enterprise  of 
groups  of  men.  It  is  great,  also,  very  great,  in  its  moral 
force.  Nowhere  else  in  the  world  have  noble  men  and 
5  women  exhibited  in  more  striking  forms  the  beauty  and 
the  energy  of  sympathy  and  helpfulness  and  counsel  in 
their  efforts  to  rectify  wrong,  alleviate  suffering,  and  set 
the  weak  in  the  way  of  strength  and  hope.  We  have  built 
up,  moreover,  a  great  system  of  government,  which  has 

10  stood  through  a  long  age  as  in  many  respects  a  model  for 
those  who  seek  to  set  liberty  upon  foundations  that  will 
endure  against  fortuitous  change,  against  storm  and 
accident.  Our  life  contains  every  great  thing,  and  con 
tains  it  in  rich  abundance. 

15  But  the  evil  has  come  with  the  good,  and  much  fine  gold 
has  been  corroded.  With  riches  has  come  inexcusable 
waste.  We  have  squandered  a  great  part  of  what  we 
might  have  used,  and  have  not  stopped  to  conserve  the 
exceeding  bounty  of  nature,  without  which  our  genius  for 

20  enterprise  would  have  been  worthless  and  impotent, 
scorning  to  be  careful,  shamefully  prodigal  as  well  as 
admirably  efficient.  We  have  been  proud  of  our  industrial 
achievements,  but  we  have  not  hitherto  stopped  thought 
fully  enough  to  count  the  human  cost,  the  cost  of  lives 

25  snuffed  out,  of  energies  overtaxed  and  broken,  the  fearful 
physical  and  spiritual  cost  to  the  men  and  women  and 
children  upon  whom  the  dead  weight  and  burden  of  it  all 
has  fallen  pitilessly  the  years  through.  The  groans  and 
agony  of  it  all  had  not  yet  reached  our  ears,  the  solemn, 

30  moving  undertone  of  our  life,  coming  up  out  of  the  mines 
and  factories  and  out  of  every  home  where  the  struggle 
had  its  intimate  and  familiar  seat.  With  the  great  Gov 
ernment  went  many  deep  secret  things  which  we  too  long 
delayed  to  look  into' and  scrutinize  with  candid,  fearless 


First  Inaugural  Address  5 

eyes.  The  great  Government  we  loved  has  too  often  been 
made  use  of  for  private  and  selfish  purposes,  and  those  who 
used  it  had  forgotten  the  people. 

At  last  a  vision  has  been  vouchsafed  us  of  our  life  as  a 
whole.    We  see  the  bad  with  the  good,  the  debased  and    5 
decadent  with  the  sound  and  vital.    With  this  vision  we 
approach  new  affairs.    Our  duty  is  to  cleanse,  to  recon 
sider,  to  restore,  to  correct  the  evil  without  impairing  the       / 
good,  to  purify  and  humanize  every  process  of  our  common     V 
life  without  weakening  or  sentimentalizing  it.    There  has  10 
been  something  crude  and  heartless  and  unfeeling  in  our 
haste  to  succeed  and  be  great.    Our  thought  has  been  "Let 
every  man  look  out  for  himself,  let  every  generation  look   y 
out  for  itself,"  while  we  reared  giant  machinery  which 
made  it  impossible  that  any  but  those  who  stood  at  the  15 
levers  of  control  should  have  a  chance  to  look  out  for  them 
selves.    We  had  not  forgotten  our  morals.    We  remem 
bered  well  enough  that  we  had  set  up  a  policy  which  was 
meant  to  serve  the  humblest  as  well  as  the  most  powerful, 
with  an  eye  single  to  the  standards  of  justice  and  fair  play,  20 
and  remembered  it  with  pride.    But  we  were  very  heedless 
and  in  a  hurry  to  be  great. 

We  have  come  now  to  the  sober  second  thought.  The 
scales  of  heedlessness  have  fallen  from  our  eyes.  We  have 
made  up  our  minds  to  square  every  process  of  our  national  25 
life  again  with  the  standards  we  so  proudly  set  up  at  the 
beginning  and  have  always  carried  at  our  hearts.  Our 
work  is  a  work  of  restoration. 

We  have  itemized  with  some  degree  of  particularity  the 
things  that  ought  to  be  altered  and  here  are  some  of  the  30 
chief  items :  A  tariff  which  cuts  us  off  from  our  proper  part 
in  the  commerce  of  the  world,  violates  the  just  principles  of 
taxation,  and  makes  the  Government  a  facile  instrument 
in  the  hands  of  private  interests;  a  banking  and  currency 


4  Wood  row  Wilson 

industries  which  have  been  conceived  and  built  up  by  the 
genius  of  individual  men  and  the  limitless  enterprise  of 
groups  of  men.  It  is  great,  also,  very  great,  in  its  moral 
force.  Nowhere  else  in  the  world  have  noble  men  and 
5  women  exhibited  in  more  striking  forms  the  beauty  and 
the  energy  of  sympathy  and  helpfulness  and  counsel  in 
their  efforts  to  rectify  wrong,  alleviate  suffering,  and  set 
the  weak  in  the  way  of  strength  and  hope.  We  have  built 
up,  moreover,  a  great  system  of  government,  which  has 

10  stood  through  a  long  age  as  in  many  respects  a  model  for 
those  who  seek  to  set  liberty  upon  foundations  that  will 
endure  against  fortuitous  change,  against  storm  and 
accident.  Our  life  contains  every  great  thing,  and  con 
tains  it  in  rich  abundance. 

15  But  the  evil  has  come  with  the  good,  and  much  fine  gold 
has  been  corroded.  With  riches  has  come  inexcusable 
waste.  We  have  squandered  a  great  part  of  what  we 
might  have  used,  and  have  not  stopped  to  conserve  the 
exceeding  bounty  of  nature,  without  which  our  genius  for 

20  enterprise  would  have  been  worthless  and  impotent, 
scorning  to  be  careful,  shamefully  prodigal  as  well  as 
admirably  efficient.  We  have  been  proud  of  our  industrial 
achievements,  but  we  have  not  hitherto  stopped  thought 
fully  enough  to  count  the  human  cost,  the  cost  of  lives 

25  snuffed  out,  of  energies  overtaxed  and  broken,  the  fearful 
physical  and  spiritual  cost  to  the  men  and  women  and 
children  upon  whom  the  dead  weight  and  burden  of  it  all 
has  fallen  pitilessly  the  years  through.  The  groans  and 
agony  of  it  all  had  not  yet  reached  our  ears,  the  solemn, 

30  moving  undertone  of  our  life,  coming  up  out  of  the  mines 
and  factories  and  out  of  every  home  where  the  struggle 
had  its  intimate  and  familiar  seat.  With  the  great  Gov 
ernment  went  many  deep  secret  things  which  we  too  long 
delayed  to  look  into  and  scrutinize  with  candid,  fearless 


First  Inaugural  Address  5 

eyes.  The  great  Government  we  loved  has  too  often  been 
made  use  of  for  private  and  selfish  purposes,  and  those  who 
used  it  had  forgotten  the  people. 

At  last  a  vision  has  been  vouchsafed  us  of  our  life  as  a 
whole.    We  see  the  bad  with  the  good,  the  debased  and    5 
decadent  with  the  sound  and  vital.    With  this  vision  we 
approach  new  affairs.    Our  duty  is  to  cleanse,  to  recon 
sider,  to  restore,  to  correct  the  evil  without  impairing  the       / 
good,  to  purify  and  humanize  every  process  of  our  common     v 
life  without  weakening  or  sentimentalizing  it.    There  has  10 
been  something  crude  and  heartless  and  unfeeling  in  our 
haste  to  succeed  and  be  great.    Our  thought  has  been  "Let 
every  man  look  out  for  himself,  let  every  generation  look   y 
out  for  itself,"  while  we  reared  giant  machinery  which 
made  it  impossible  that  any  but  those  who  stood  at  the  15 
levers  of  control  should  have  a  chance  to  look  out  for  them 
selves.    We  had  not  forgotten  our  morals.    We  remem 
bered  well  enough  that  we  had  set  up  a  policy  which  was 
meant  to  serve  the  humblest  as  well  as  the  most  powerful, 
with  an  eye  single  to  the  standards  of  justice  and  fair  play,  20 
and  remembered  it  with  pride.    But  we  were  very  heedless 
and  in  a  hurry  to  be  great. 

We  have  come  now  to  the  sober  second  thought.  The 
scales  of  heedlessness  have  fallen  from  our  eyes.  We  have 
made  up  our  minds  to  square  every  process  of  our  national  25 
life  again  with  the  standards  we  so  proudly  set  up  at  the 
beginning  and  have  always  carried  at  our  hearts.  Our 
work  is  a  work  of  restoration. 

We  have  itemized  with  some  degree  of  particularity  the 
things  that  ought  to  be  altered  and  here  are  some  of  the  30 
chief  items:  A  tariff  which  cuts  us  off  from  our  proper  part 
in  the  commerce  of  the  world,  violates  the  just  principles  of 
taxation,  and  makes  the  Government  a  facile  instrument 
in  the  hands  of  private  interests;  a  banking  and  currency 


6  Woodrow  Wilson 

system  based  upon  the  necessity  of  the  Government  to 
sell  its  bonds  fifty  years  ago  and  perfectly  adapted  to  con 
centrating  cash  and  restricting  credits;  an  industrial  sys 
tem  which,  take  it  on  all  its  sides,  financial  as  well  as 
5  administrative,  holds  capital  in  leading  strings,  restricts 
the  liberties  and  limits  the  opportunities  of  labor,  and 
exploits  without  renewing  or  conserving  the  natural  re 
sources  of  the  country;  a  body  of  agricultural  activities 
never  yet  given  the  efficiency  of  great  business  under- 

10  takings  or  served  as  it  should  be  through  the  instrumental 
ity  of  science  taken  directly  to  the  farm,  or  afforded  the 
facilities  of  credit  best  suited  to  its  practical  needs;  water 
courses  undeveloped,  waste  places  unreclaimed,  forests 
untended,  fast  disappearing  without  plan  or  prospect  of 

15  renewal,  unregarded  waste  heaps  at  every  mine.  We  have 
studied,  as  perhaps  no  other  nation  has,  the  most  effective 
means  of  production,  but  we  have  not  studied  cost  or 
economy  as  we  should,  either  as  organizers  of  industry,  as 
statesmen,  or  as  individuals. 

20  Nor  have  we  studied  and  perfected  the  means  by  which 
government  may  be  put  at  the  service  of  humanity,  in 
safeguarding  the  health  of  the  Nation,  the  health  of  its  men 
and  its  women  and  its  children,  as  well  as  their  rights  in 
the  struggle  for  existence.  This  is  no  sentimental  duty. 

25  The  firm  basis  of  government  is  justice,  not  pity.  These 
are  matters  of  justice.  There  can  be  no  equality  of  oppor 
tunity,  the  first  essential  of  justice  in  the  body  politic,  if 
men  and  women  and  children  be  not  shielded  in  their 
lives,  their  very  vitality,  from  the  consequences  of  great 

30  industrial  and  social  processes  which  they  cannot  alter, 

.  control,  or  singly  cope  with.    Society  must  see  to  it  that 

it  does  not  itself  crush  or  weaken  or  damage  its  own 

constituent  parts.    The  first  duty  of  law  is  to  keep  sound 

the  society  it  serves.    Sanitary  laws,  pure-food  laws,  and 


First  Inaugural  Address  7 

laws  determining  conditions  of  labor  which  individuals 
are  powerless  to  determine  for  themselves  are  intimate 
parts  of  the  very  business  of  justice  and  legal  efficiency. 

These  are  some  of  the  things  we  ought  to  do,  and  not 
leave  the  others  undone,  the  old-fashioned,  never- to-be-  5 
neglected,  fundamental  safeguarding  of  property  and  of 
individual  right.  This  is  the  high  enterprise  of  the  new 
day:  To  lift  everything  that  concerns  our  life  as  a  Nation 
to  the  light  that  shines  from  the  hearthfire  of  every  man's 
conscience  and  vision  of  the  right.  It  is  inconceivable  that  10 
we  should  do  this  as  partisans;  it  is  inconceivable  we  should 
do  it  in  ignorance  of  the  facts  as  they  are  or  in  blind  haste. 
We  shall  restore,  not  destroy.  We  shall  deal  with  our 
economic  system  as  it  is  and  as  it  may  be  modified,  not  as 
it  might  be  if  we  had  a  clean  sheet  of  paper  to  write  upon;  15 
and  step  by  step  we  shall  make  it  what  it  should  be,  in  the 
spirit  of  those  who  question  their  own  wisdom  and  seek 
counsel  and  knowledge,  not  shallow  self-satisfaction  or  the 
excitement  of  excursions  whither  they  cannot  tell.  Jus 
tice,  and  only  justice,  shall  always  be  our  motto.  20 

And  yet  it  will  be  no  cool  process  of  mere  science.  The 
Nation  has  been  deeply  stirred,  stirred  by  a  solemn  passion, 
stirred  by  the  knowledge  of  wrong,  of  ideals  lost,  of  govern 
ment  too  often  debauched  and  made  an  instrument  of 
evil.  The  feelings  with  which  we  face  this  new  age  of  right  25 
and  opportunity  sweep  across  our  heartstrings  like  some 
air  out  of  God's  own  presence,  where  justice  and  mercy  are 
reconciled  and  the  judge  and  the  brother  are  one.  We 
know  our  task  to  be  no  mere  task  of  politics  but  a  task 
which  shall  search  us  through  and  through,  whether  we  be  30 
able  to  understand  our  time  and  the  need  of  our  people, 
whether  we  be  indeed  their  spokesmen  and  interpreters, 
whether  we  have  the  pure  heart  to  comprehend  and  the 
rectified  will  to  choose  our  high  course  of  action, 


8  Woodrow  Wilson 

This  is  not  a  day  of  triumph;  it  is  a  day  of  dedication. 
Here  muster,  not  the  forces  of  party,  but  the  forces  of 
humanity.  Men's  hearts  wait  upon  us;  men's  lives  hang 
in  the  balance;  men's  hopes  call  upon  us  to  say  what  we 
5  will  do.  Who  shall  live  up  to  the  great  trust?  Who  dares 
fail  to  try?  I  summon  all  honest  men,  all  patriotic,  all 
forward-looking  men,  to  my  side.  God  helping  me,  I  will 
not  fail  them,  if  they  will  but  counsel  and  sustain  me! 


FIRST  ADDRESS  TO  CONGRESS 

[Delivered  at  a  joint  session  of  the  two  Houses  of  Congress,  at  the 
beginning  of  the  first  session  of  the  'Sixty-third  Congress,  April  8, 


MR.    SPEAKER,   MR.   PRESIDENT,    GENTLEMEN   OF   THE 
CONGRESS: 

I  am  very  glad  indeed  to  have  this  opportunity  to  ad 
dress  the  two  Houses  directly  and  to  verify  for  myself  the 
impression  that  the  President  of  the  United  States  is  a    5 
person,  not  a  mere  department  of  the  Government  hailing 
Congress  from  some  isolated  island  of  jealous  power,  send 
ing  messages,  not  speaking  naturally  and  with  his  own 
voice  —  that  he  is  a  human  being  trying  to  cooperate  with 
other  human  beings  in  a  common  service.     After  this  10 
pleasant  experience  I  shall  feel  quite  normal  in  all  our 
dealings  with  one  another.* 

I  have  called  the  Congress  together  in  extraordinary 
session  because  a  duty  was  laid  upon  the  party  now  in 
power  at  the  recent  elections  which  it  ought  to  perform  15 
promptly,  in  order  that  the  burden  carried  by  the  people 
under  existing  law  may  be  lightened  as  soon  as  possible 
and  in  order,  also,  that  the  business  interests  of  the  coun 
try  may  not  be  kept  too  long  in  suspense  as  to  what  the 
fiscal  changes  are  to  be  to  which  they  will  be  required  to  20 
adjust  themselves.  It  is  clear  to  the  whole  country  that 
the  tariff  duties  must  be  altered.  They  must  be  changed 
to  meet  the  radical  alteration  in  the  conditions  of  our 
economic  life  which  the  country  has  witnessed  within 

*  It  had  been  the  practice  of  our  Presidents  to  send  their  Messages 
to  Congress  and  not  to  read  them  in  person. 

9 


io  Woodrow  Wilson 

the  last  generation.  While  the  whole  face  and  method  of 
our  industrial  and  commercial  life  were  being  changed 
beyond  recognition  the  tariff  schedules  have  remained 
what  they  were  before  the  change  began,  or  have  moved 
5  in  the  direction  they  were  given  when  no  large  circum 
stance  of  our  industrial  development  was  what  it  is  to 
day.  Our  task  is  to  square  them  with  the  actual  facts. 
The  sooner  that  is  done  the  sooner  we  shall  escape  from 
suffering  from  the  facts  and  the  sooner  our  men  of  business 

io  will  be  free  to  thrive  by  the  law  of  nature  (the  nature  of 
free  business)  instead  of  by  the  law  of  legislation  and 
artificial  arrangement. 

We  have  seen  tariff  legislation  wander  very  far  afield 
in  our  day — very  far  indeed  from  the  field  in  which  our 

15  prosperity  might  have  had  a  normal  growth  and  stimula 
tion.  No  one  who  looks  the  facts  squarely  in  the  face  or 
knows  anything  that  lies  beneath  the  surface  of  action 
can  fail  to  perceive  the  principles  upon  which  recent  tariff 
legislation  has  been  based.  We  long  ago  passed  beyond 

20  the  modest  notion  of  " protecting"  the  industries  of  the 
country  and  moved  boldly  forward  to  the  idea  that  they 
were  entitled  to  the  direct  patronage  of  the  Government. 
For  a  long  time — a  time  so  long  that  the  men  now  active 
in  public  policy  hardly  remember  the  conditions  that 

25  preceded  it — we  have  sought  in  our  tariff  schedules  to 
give  each  group  of  manufacturers  or  producers  what  they 
themselves  thought  that  they  needed  in  order  to  maintain 
a  practically  exclusive  market  as  against  the  rest  of  the 
world.  Consciously  or  unconsciously,  we  have  built  up 

30  a  set  of  privileges  and  exemptions  from  competition  be 
hind  which  it  was  easy  by  any,  even  the  crudest,  forms  of 
combination  to  organize  monopoly;  until  at  last  nothing 
is  normal,  nothing  is  obliged  to  stand  the  tests  of  efficiency 
and  economy,  in  our  world  of  big  business,  but  everything 


First  Address  to  Congress  n 

thrives  by  concerted  arrangement.  Only  new  principles 
of  action  will  save  us  from  a  final  hard  crystallization  of 
monopoly  and  a  complete  loss  of  the  influences  that  quicken 
enterprise  and  keep  independent  energy  alive. 

It  is  plain  what  those  principles  must  be.     We  must    5 
abolish   everything   that   bears   even   the   semblance   of 
privilege  or  of  any  kind  of  artificial  advantage,  and  put 
our  business  men  and  producers  under  the  stimulation  of 
a  constant  necessity  to  be  efficient,  economical,  and  enter 
prising,  masters  of  competitive  supremacy,  better  workers  10 
and  merchants  than  any  in  the  world.    Aside  from  the 
duties  laid  upon  articles  which  we  do  not,  and  probably 
cannot,  produce,  therefore,  and  the  duties  laid  upon  lux 
uries  and  merely  for  the  sake  of  the  revenues  they  yield, 
the  object  of  the  tariff  duties  henceforth  laid  must  be  15 
effective  competition,  the  whetting  of  American  wits  by 
contest  with  the  wits  of  the  rest  of  the  world. 

It  would  be  unwise  to  move  toward  this  end  headlong, 
with  reckless  haste,  or  with  strokes  that  cut  at  the  very 
roots  of  what  has  grown  up  amongst  us  by  long  process  20 
and  at  our  own  invitation.  It  does  not  alter  a  thing  to 
upset  it  and  break  it  and  deprive  it  of  a  chance  to  change. 
It  destroys  it.  We  must  make  changes  in  our  fiscal  laws, 
in  our  fiscal  system,  whose  object  is  development,  a  more 
free  and  wholesome  development,  not  revolution  or  upset  25 
or  confusion.  We  must  build  up  trade,  especially  foreign 
trade.  We  need  the  outlet  and  the  enlarged  field  of  energy 
more  than  we  ever  did  before.  We  must  build  up  indus 
try  as  well,  and  must  adopt  freedom  in  the  place  of  arti 
ficial  stimulation  only  so  far  as  it  will  build,  not  pull  30 
down.  In  dealing  with  the  tariff  the  method  by  which 
this  may  be  done  will  be  a  matter  of  judgment,  exercised 
item  by  item.  To  some  not  accustomed  to  the  excite 
ments  and  responsibilities  of  greater  freedom  our  methods 


12  Woodrow  Wilson 

may  in  some  respects  and  at  some  points  seem  heroic,  but 
remedies  may  be  heroic  and  yet  be  remedies.  It  is  our 
business  to  make  sure  that  they  are  genuine  remedies. 
Our  object  is  clear.  If  our  motive  is  above  just  challenge 

5  and  only  an  occasional  error  of  judgment  is  chargeable 
against  us,  we  shall  be  fortunate. 

We  are  called  upon  to  render  the  country  a  great  serv 
ice  in  more  matters  than  one.  Our  responsibility  should 
be  met  and  our  methods  should  be  thorough,  as  thorough 

10  as  moderate  and  well  considered,  based  upon  the  facts 
as  they  are,  and  not  worked  out  as  if  we  were  beginners. 
We  are  to  deal  with  the  facts  of  our  own  day,  with  the 
facts  of  no  other,  and  to  make  laws  which  square  with 
those  facts.  It  is  best,  indeed  it  is  necessary,  to  begin  with 

15  the  tariff.  I  will  urge  nothing  upon  you  now  at  the  open 
ing  of  your  session  which  can  obscure  that  first  object 
or  divert  our  energies  from  that  clearly  defined  duty. 
At  a  later  time  I  may  take  the  liberty  of  calling  your 
attention  to  reforms  which  should  press  close  upon  the 

20  heels  of  the  tariff  changes,  if  not  accompany  them,  of 
which  the  chief  is  the  reform  of  our  banking  and  currency 
laws;  but  just  now  I  refrain.  For  the  present,  I  put  these 
matters  on  one  side  and  think  only  of  this  one  thing — of 
the  changes  in  our  fiscal  system  which  may  best  serve  to 

25  open  once  more  the  free  channels  of  prosperity  to  a  great 
people  whom  we  would  serve  to  the  utmost  and  through 
out  both  rank  and  file. 
I  thank  you  for  your  courtesy. 


ADDRESS  ON  THE  BANKING  SYSTEM 

[Delivered  at  a  joint  session  of  the  two  Houses  of  Congress,  June  23, 
1913-! 

MR.    SPEAKER,   MR.   PRESIDENT,    GENTLEMEN   OF   THE 
CONGRESS: 

It  is  under  the   compulsion  of  what  seems  to  me  a 
clear  and  imperative  duty  that  I  have  a  second  time  this 
session  sought  the  privilege  of  addressing  you  in  person.    5 
I  know,  of  course,  that  the  heated  season  of  the  year  is 
upon  us,  that  work  in  these  chambers  and  in  the  com 
mittee  rooms  is  likely  to  become  a  burden  as  the  season 
lengthens,  and  that  every  consideration  of  personal  con 
venience  and  personal  comfort,  perhaps,  in  the  cases  of  10 
some  of  us,  considerations  of  personal  health  even,  dictate 
an  early  conclusion  of  the  deliberations  of  the  session; 
but  there  are  occasions  of  public  duty  when  these  things 
which  touch  us  privately  seem  very  small,  when  the  work 
to  be  done  is  so  pressing  and  so  fraught  with  big  conse-  15 
quence  that  we  know  that  we  are  not  at  liberty  to  weigh 
against  it  any  point  of  personal  sacrifice.    We  are  now  in 
the  presence  of  such  an  occasion.    It  is  absolutely  impera 
tive  that  we  should  give  the  business  men  of  this  country  a 
banking  and  currency  system  by  means  of  which  they  20 
can  make  use  of  the  freedom  of  enterprise  and  of  indi 
vidual  initiative  which  we  are  about  to  bestow  upon  them. 

We  are  about  to  set  them  free;  we  must  not  leave  them 
without  the  tools  of  action  when  they  are  free.    We  are 
about  to  set  them  free  by  removing  the  trammels  of  the  25 
protective  tariff.     Ever  since  the  Civil  War  they  have 
waited  for  this  emancipation  and  for  the  free  opportuni- 

13 


14  Woodrow  Wilson 

ties  it  will  bring  with  it.  It  has  been  reserved  for  us  to 
give  it  to  them.  Some  fell  in  love,  indeed,  with  the  sloth 
ful  security  of  their  dependence  upon  the  Government; 
some  took  advantage  of  the  shelter  of  the  nursery  to  set 
5  up  a  mimic  mastery  of  their  own  within  its  walls.  Now 
both  the  tonic  and  the  discipline  of  liberty  and  maturity 
are  to  ensue.  There  will  be  some  readjustments  of  purpose 
and  point  of  view.  There  will  follow  a  period  of  expan 
sion  and  new  enterprise,  freshly  conceived.  It  is  for  us  to 

10  determine  now  whether  it  shall  be  rapid  and  facile  and  of 
easy  accomplishment.  This  it  cannot  be  unless  the  re 
sourceful  business  men  who  are  to  deal  with  the  new  cir 
cumstances  are  to  have  at  hand  and  ready  for  use  the 
instrumentalities  and  conveniences  of  free  enterprise 

15  which  independent  men  need  when  acting  on  their  own 
initiative. 

It  is  not  enough  to  strike  the  shackles  from  business. 
The  duty  of  statesmanship  is  not  negative  merely.  It  is 
constructive  also.  We  must  show  that  we  understand 

20  what  business  needs  and  that  we  know  how  to  supply  it. 
No  man,  however  casual  and  superficial  his  observation 
of  the  conditions  now  prevailing  in  the  country,  can  fail 
to  see  that  one  of  the  chief  things  business  needs  now,  and 
will  need  increasingly  as  it  gains  in  scope  and  vigor  in  the 

25  years  immediately  ahead  of  us,  is  the  proper  means  by 
which  readily  to  vitalize  its  credit,  corporate  and  indi 
vidual,  and  its  originative  brains.  What  will  it  profit  us 
to  be  free  if  we  are  not  to  have  the  best  and  most  ac 
cessible  instrumentalities  of  commerce  and  enterprise? 

30  What  will  it  profit  us  to  be  quit  of  one  kind  of  monopoly 
if  we  are  to  remain  in  the  grip  of  another  and  more  effec 
tive  kind?  How  are  we  to  gain  and  keep  the  confidence 
of  the  business  community  unless  we  show  that  we  know 
how  both  to  aid  and  to  protect  it?  What  shall  we  say  if 


On  the  Banking  System  15 

we  make  fresh  enterprise  necessary  and  also  make  it  very 
difficult  by  leaving  all  else  except  the  tariff  just  as  we  found 
it?  The  tyrannies  of  business,  big  and  little,  lie  within 
the  field  of  credit.  We  know  that.  Shall  we  not  act  upon 
the  knowledge?  Do  we  not  know  how  to  act  upon  it?  If  5 
a  man  cannot  make  his  assets  available  at  pleasure,  his 
assets  of  capacity  and  character  and  resource,  what  satis 
faction  is  it  to  him  to  see  opportunity  beckoning  to  him 
on  every  hand,  when  others  have  the  keys  of  credit  in 
their  pockets  and  treat  them  as  all  but  their  own  private  10 
possession?  It  is  perfectly  clear  that  it  is  our  duty  to 
supply  the  new  banking  and  currency  system  the  country 
iieeds,  and  it  will  need  it  immediately  more  than  it  has 
ever  needed  it  before. 

The  only  question  is,  When  shall  we  supply  it — now,  or  15 
later,  after  the  demands  shall  have  become  reproaches 
that  we  were  so  dull  and  so  slow?  Shall  we  hasten  to 
change  the  tariff  laws  and  then  be  laggards  about  making 
it  possible  and  easy  for  the  country  to  take  advantage  of 
the  change?  There  can  be  only  one  answer  to  that  ques-  20 
tion.  We  must  act  now,  at  whatever  sacrifice  to  ourselves. 
It  is  a  duty  which  the  circumstances  forbid  us  to  postpone. 
I  should  be  recreant  to  my  deepest  convictions  of  public 
obligation  did  I  not  press  it  upon  you  with  solemn  and 
urgent  insistence.  25 

The  principles  upon  which  we  should  act  are  also  clear. 
The  country  has  sought  and  seen  its  path  in  this  matter 
within  the  last  few  years — sees  it  more  clearly  now  than 
it  ever  saw  it  before — much  more  clearly  than  when  the 
last  legislative  proposals  on  the  subject  were  made.  We  30 
must  have  a  currency,  not  rigid  as  now,  but  readily,  elas- 
tically  responsive  to  sound  credit,  the  expanding  and  con 
tracting  credits  of  everyday  transactions,  the  normal  ebb 
and  flow  of  personal  and  corporate  dealings.  Our  banking 


16  Woodrow  Wilson 

laws  must  mobilize  reserves;  must  not  permit  the  concen 
tration  anywhere  in  a  few  hands  of  the  monetary  resources 
of  the  country  or  their  use  for  speculative  purposes  in 
such  volume  as  to  hinder  or  impede  or  stand  in  the  way 

5  of  other  more  legitimate,  more  fruitful  uses.  And  the 
control  of  the  system  of  banking  and  of  issue  which  our 
new  laws  are  to  set  up  must  be  public,  not  private,  must 
be  vested  in  the  Government  itself,  so  that  the  banks  may 
be  the  instruments,  not  the  masters,  of  business  and  of 

10  individual  enterprise  and  initiative. 

The  committees  of  the  Congress  to  which  legislation  of 
this  character  is  referred  have  devoted  careful  and  dis 
passionate  study  to  the  means  of  accomplishing  these  ob 
jects.  They  have  honored  me  by  consulting  me.  They 

35  are  ready  to  suggest  action.  I  have  come  to  you,  as  the 
head  of  the  Government  and  the  responsible  leader  of  the 
party  in  power,  to  urge  action  now,  while  there  is  time  to 
serve  the  country  deliberately  and  as  we  should,  in  a  clear 
air  of  common  counsel.  I  appeal  to  you  with  a  deep  con- 

20  viction  of  duty.  I  believe  that  you  share  this  conviction. 
I  therefore  appeal  to  you  with  confidence.  I  am  at  your 
service  without  reserve  to  play  my  part  in  any  way  you 
may  call  upon  me  to  play  it  in  this  great  enterprise  of 
exigent  reform  which  it  will  dignify  and  distinguish  us  to 

25  perform  and  discredit  us  to  neglect. 


ADDRESS  AT  GETTYSBURG 

[Delivered  in  the  presence  of  Union  and  Confederate  veterans,  on 
the  occasion  of  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  battle,  July  4,  1913.] 

FRIENDS  AND  FELLOW  CITIZENS: 

I  need  not  tell  you  what  the  Battle  of  Gettysburg 
meant.    These  gallant  men  in  blue  and  gray  sit  all  about 
us  here.*    Many  of  them  met  upon  this  ground  in  grim 
and  deadly  struggle.    Upon  these  famous  fields  and  hill-    5 
Asides  their  comrades  died  about  them.    In  their  presence 
it  were  an  impertinence  to  discourse  upon  how  the  battle 
went,  how  it  ended,  what  it  signified!     But  fifty  years 
have  gone  by  since  then,  and  I  crave  the  privilege  of 
speaking  to  you  for  a  few  minutes  of  what  those  fifty  I0 
years  have  meant. 

What  have  they  meant?    They  have  meant  peace  and 
union  and  vigor,  and  the  maturity  and  might  of  a  great 
nation.    How  wholesome  and  healing  the  peace  has  been! 
We  have  found  one  another  again  as  brothers  and  com-  J5 
rades  in  arms,  enemies  no  longer,  generous  friends  rather, 
our  battles  long  past,  the  quarrel  forgotten — except  that 
we  shall  not  forget  the  splendid  valor,  the  manly  devotion 
of  the  men  then  arrayed  against  one  another,  now  grasp 
ing  hands  and  smiling  into  each  other's  eyes.    How  com-  20 
plete  the  union  has  become  and  how  dear  to  all  of  us, 
how  unquestioned,  how  benign  and  majestic,  as  State 
after  State  has  been  added  to  this  our  great  family  of  free 
men!    How  handsome  the  vigor,  the  maturity,  the  might 
of  the  great  Nation  we  love  with  undivided  hearts;  how  2S 
full  of  large  and  confident  promise  that  a  life  will  be 

*  The  speech  was  made  from  a  rostrum  in  the  National  Cemetery, 
on  the  battlefield. 

17 


1 8  Woodrow  Wilson 

wrought  out  that  will  crown  its  strength  with  gracious 
justice  and  with  a  happy  welfare  that  will  touch  all  alike 
with  deep  contentment!  We  are  debtors  to  those  fifty 
crowded  years;  they  have  made  us  heirs  to  a  mighty 
5  heritage. 

But  do  we  deem  the  Nation  complete  and  finished? 
These  venerable  men  crowding  here  to  this  famous  field 
have  set  us  a  great  example  of  devotion  and  utter  sacrifice. 
They  were  willing  to  die  that  the  people  might  live.  But 

10  their  task  is  done.  Their  day  is  turned  into  evening.  They 
look  to  us  to  perfect  what  they  established.  Their  work 
is  handed  on  to  us,  to  be  done  in  another  way,  but  not  in 
another  spirit.  Our  day  is  not  over;  it  is  upon  us  in  full 
tide. 

15  Have  affairs  paused?  Does  the  Nation  stand  still? 
Is  what  the  fifty  years  have  wrought  since  those  days  of 
battle  finished,  rounded  out,  and  completed?  Here  is  a 
great  people,  great  with  every  force  that  has  ever  beaten 
in  the  lifeblood  of  mankind.  And  it  is  secure.  There  is 

20  no  one  within  its  borders,  there  is  no  power  among  the 
nations  of  the  earth,  to  make  it  afraid.     But  has  it  yet  j 
squared  itself  with  its  own  great  standards  set  up  at  its/ 
birth,  when  it  made  that  first  noble,  naive  appeal  to  the/ 
moral  judgment  of  mankind  to  take  notice  that  a  govern-/ 

25  ment  had  now  at  last  been  established  which  was  to  serv^ 
men,  not  masters?    It  is  secure  in  everything  except  thfe  , 
satisfaction  that  its  life  is  right,  adjusted  to  the  uttermost 
to  the  standards  of  righteousness  and  humanity.     THe 
days  of  sacrifice  and  cleansing  are  not  closed.    We  have 

30  harder  things  to  do  than  were  done  in  the  heroic  days  of 
war,  because  harder  to  see  clearly,  requiring  more  vision, 
more  calm  balance  of  judgment,  a  more  candid  searching 
of  the  very  springs  of  right. 

Look  around  you  upon  the  field  of  Gettysburg!    Pic- 


Address  at  Gettysburg  19 

ture  the  array,  the  fierce  heats  and  agony  of  battle,  column 
hurled  against  column,  battery  bellowing  to  battery! 
Valor?  Yes!  Greater  no  man  shall  see  in  war;  and  self- 
sacrifice,  and  loss  to  the  uttermost;  the  high  recklessness  of 
exalted  devotion  which  does  not  count  the  cost.  We  are  5 
made  by  these  tragic,  epic  things  to  know  what  it  costs 
to  make  a  nation — the  blood  and  sacrifice  of  multitudes 
of  unknown  men  lifted  to  a  great  stature  in  the  view  of 
all  generations  by  knowing  no  limit  to  their  manly  willing- 
ness  to  serve.  In  armies  thus  marshaled  from  the  ranks  10 
of  free  men  you  will  see,  as  it  were,  a  nation  embattled, 
the  leaders  and  the  led,  and  may  know,  if  you  will,  how 
little  except  in  form  its  action  differs  in  days  of  peace 
from  its  action  in  days  of  war. 

May  we  break  camp  now  and  be  at  ease?  Are  the  15 
forces  that  fight  for  the  Nation  dispersed,  disbanded, 
gone  to  their  homes  forgetful  of  the  common  cause?  Are 
our  forces  disorganized,  without  constituted  leaders  and 
the  might  of  men  consciously  united  because  we  contend, 
not  with  armies,  but  with  principalities  and  powers  and  20 
wickedness  in  high  places?  Are  we  content  to  lie  still? 
Does  our  union  mean  sympathy,  our  peace  contentment, 
our  vigor  right  action,  our  maturity  self-comprehension 
and  a  clear  confidence  in  choosing  what  we  shall  do? 
War  fitted  us  for  action,  and  action  never  ceases.  25 

I  have  been  chosen  the  leader  of  the  Nation.  I  can 
not  justify  the  choice  by  any  qualities  of  my  own,  but 
so  it  has  come  about,  and  here  I  stand.  Whom  do  I  com 
mand?  The  ghostly  hosts  who  fought  upon  these  battle 
fields  long  ago  and  are  gone?  These  gallant  gentlemen  30 
stricken  in  years  whose  fighting  days  are  over,  their  glory 
won?  What  are  the  orders  for  them,  and  who  rallies  them? 
I  have  in  my  mind  another  host,  whom  these  set  free  of 
civil  strife  in  order  that  they  might  work  out  in  days  of 


2O  Woodrow  Wilson 

peace  and  settled  order  the  life  of  a  great  Nation.  That 
host  is  the  people  themselves,  the  great  and  the  small, 
without  class  or  difference  of  kind  or  race  or  origin;  and 
undivided  in  interest,  if  we  have  but  the  vision  to  guide 

5  and  direct  them  and  order  their  lives  aright  in  what  we  do. 
Our  constitutions  are  their  articles  of  enlistment.  The 
orders  of  the  day  are  the  laws  upon  our  statute  books. 
What  we  strive  for  is  their  freedom,  their  right  to  lift 
themselves  from  day  to  day  and  behold  the  things  they 

10  have  hoped  for,  and  so  make  way  for  still  better  days 
for  those  whom  they  love  who  are  to  come  after  them. 
The  recruits  are  the  little  children  crowding  in.  The 
quartermaster's  stores  are  in  the  mines  and  forests  and 
fields,  in  the  shops  and  factories.  Every  day  something 

15  must  be  done  to  push  the  campaign  forward;  and  it  must 
be  done  by  plan  and  with  an  eye  to  some  great  destiny. 

How  shall  we  hold  such  thoughts  in  our  hearts  and  not 
be  moved?  I  would  not  have  you  live  even  to-day  wholly 
in  the  past,  but  would  wish  to  stand  with  you  in  the  light 

20  that  streams  upon  us  now  out  of  that  great  day  gone  by. 
Here  is  the  nation  God  has  builded  by  our  hands.  What 
shall  we  do  with  it?  Who  stands  ready  to  act  again  and 
always  in  the  spirit  of  this  day  of  reunion  and  hope  and 
patriotic  fervor?  The  day  of  our  country's  life  has  but 

25  broadened  into  morning.  Do  not  put  uniforms  by.  Put 
the  harness  of  the  present  on.  Lift  your  eyes  to  the  great 
tracts  of  life  yet  to  be  conquered  in  the  interest  of  right 
eous  peace,  of  that  prosperity  which  lies  in  a  people's 
hearts  and  outlasts  all  wars  and  errors  of  men.  Come, 

30  let  us  be  comrades  and  soldiers  yet  to  serve  our  fellow- 
men  in  quiet  counsel,  where  the  blare  of  trumpets  is  neither 
heard  nor  heeded  and  where  the  things  are  done  which 
make  blessed  the  nations  of  the  world  in  peace  and  right 
eousness  and  love. 


ADDRESS  ON  MEXICAN  AFFAIRS 

[Delivered  at  a  joint  session  of  the  two  Houses  of  Congress,  Au 
gust  27,  1913.] 

GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  CONGRESS: 

It  is  clearly  my  duty  to  lay  before  you,  very  fully  and 
without  reservation,  the  facts  concerning  our  present  rela 
tions  with  the  Republic  of  Mexico.    The  deplorable  pos 
ture  of  affairs  in  Mexico  I  need  not  describe,*  but  I  deem    5 
it  my  duty  to  speak  very  frankly  of  what  this  Govern 
ment  has  done  and  should  seek  to  do  in  fulfillment  of  its 
obligation  to  Mexico  herself,  as  a  friend  and  neighbor, 
and  to  American  citizens  whose  lives  and  vital  interests 
are  daily  affected  by  the  distressing  conditions  which  now  I0 
obtain  beyond  our  southern  border. 

Those  conditions  touch  us  very  nearly.    Not  merely  be 
cause  they  lie  at  our  very  doors.    That  of  course  makes 
us  more  vividly  and  more  constantly  conscious  of  them, 
and  every  instinct  of  neighborly  interest  and  sympathy  is  I5 
aroused  and  quickened  by  them;  but  that  is  only  one  ele 
ment  in  the  determination  of  our  duty.    We  are  glad  to 
call  ourselves  the  friends  of  Mexico,  and  we  shall,  I  hope, 
have  many  an  occasion,  in  happier  times  as  well  as  in 
these  days  of  trouble  and  confusion,  to  show  that  our  20 
friendship  is  genuine  and  disinterested,  capable  of  sacrifice 

*  General  Victoriano  Huerta  had,  on  Feb.  18,  deposed  President 
Madero,  and  had  been,  on  the  2oth,  elected  President  by  the  Mexican 
Congress.  Three  days  later  Madero  was  assassinated  while  in  the 
custody  of  the  new  government.  An  army  calling  themselves  Con 
stitutionalists  under  General  Villa,  defeated  the  Mexican  Federal 
forces  in  May.  On  August  20,  Huerta  declined  the  proposal  of  the 
United  States  government  that  he  should  cease  to  be  a  candidate 
for  the  Presidency. 

21 


22  Woodrow  Wilson 

and  every  generous  manifestation.  The  peace,  prosperity, 
and  contentment  of  Mexico  mean  more,  much  more,  to 
us  than  merely  an  enlarged  field  for  our  commerce  and 
enterprise.  They  mean  an  enlargement  of  the  field  of  self- 
5  government  and  the  realization  of  the  hopes  and  rights  of 
a  nation  with  whose  best  aspirations,  so  long  suppressed 
and  disappointed,  we  deeply  sympathize.  We  shall  yet 
prove  to  the  Mexican  people  that  we  know  how  to  serve 
them  without  first  thinking  how  we  shall  serve  ourselves. 

10  But  we  are  not  the  only  friends  of  Mexico.  The  whols 
world  desires  her  peace  and  progress ;  and  the  whole  world 
is  interested  as  never  before.  Mexico  lies  at  last  where 
all  the  world  looks  on.  Central  America  is  about  to  be 
touched  by  the  great  routes  of  the  world's  trade  and  inter- 

15  course  running  free  from  ocean  to  ocean  at  the  Isthmus. 
The  future  has  much  in  store  for  Mexico,  as  for  all  tha 
States  of  Central  America;  but  the  best  gifts  can  come  to 
her  only  if  she  be  ready  and  free  to  receive  them  and  to 
enjoy  them  honorably.  America  in  particular — America 

20  north  and  south  and  upon  both  continents — waits  upon 
the  development  of  Mexico;  and  that  development  can 
be  sound  and  lasting  only  if  it  be  the  product  of  a  genuine 
freedom,  a  just  and  ordered  government  founded  upon 
law.  Only  so  can  it  be  peaceful  or  fruitful  of  the  benefits 

25  of  peace.  Mexico  has  a  great  and  enviable  future  before 
her,  if  only  she  choose  and  attain  the  paths  of  honest  con 
stitutional  government. 

The  present  circumstances  of  the  Republic,  I  deeply 
regret  to  say,  do  not  seem  to  promise  even  the  founda- 

30  tions  of  such  a  peace.  We  have  waited  many  months, 
months  full  of  peril  and  anxiety,  for  the  conditions  there 
to  improve,  and  they  have  not  improved.  They  have 
grown  worse,  rather.  The  territory  in  some  sort  con 
trolled  by  the  provisional  authorities  at  Mexico  City  has 


On  Mexican  Affairs  23 

grown  smaller,  not  larger.  The  prospect  of  the  pacifica 
tion  of  the  country,  even  by  arms,  has  seemed  to  grow  more 
and  more  remote;  and  its  pacification  by  the  authorities 
at  the  capital  is  evidently  impossible  by  any  other  means 
than  force.  Difficulties  more  and  more  entangle  those  5 
who  claim  to  constitute  the  legitimate  government  of  the 
Republic.  They  have  not  made  good  their  claim  in  fact. 
Their  successes  in  the  field  have  proved  only  temporary. 
War  and  disorder,  devastation  and  confusion,  seem  to 
threaten  to  become  the  settled  fortune  of  the  distracted  10 
country.  As  friends  we  could  wait  no  longer  for  a  solution 
which  every  week  seemed  further  away.  It  was  our  duty 
at  least  to  volunteer  our  good  offices — to  offer  to  assist, 
if  we  might,  in  effecting  some  arrangement  which  would 
bring  relief  and  peace  and  set  up  a  universally  acknowl-  15 
edged  political  authority  there. 

Accordingly,  I  took  the  liberty  of  sending  the  Hon.  John 
Lind,  formerly  governor  of  Minnesota,  as  my  personal 
spokesman  and  representative,  to  the  City  of  Mexico, 
with  the  following  instructions:  20 

Press  very  earnestly  upon  the  attention  of  those  who  arc 
now  exercising  authority  or  wielding  influence  in  Mexico  the 
following  considerations  and  advice: 

The  Government  of  the  United  States  does  not  feel  at  liberty 
any  longer  to  stand  inactively  by  while  it  becomes  daily  more  25 
and  more  evident  that  no  real  progress  is  being  made  towards 
the  establishment  of  a  government  at  the  City  of  Mexico  which 
the  country  will  obey  and  respect. 

The  Government  of  the  United  States  does  not  stand  in  the 
same  case  with  the  other  great  Governments  of  the  world  in 
respect  of  what  is  happening  or  what  is  likely  to  happen  in  30 
Mexico.  We  offer  our  good  offices,  not  only  because  of  our 
genuine  desire  to  play  the  part  of  a  friend,  but  also  because  we 
are  expected  by  the  powers  of  the  world  to  act  as  Mexico's 
nearest  friend. 

We  wish  to  act  in  these  circumstances  in  the  spirit  of  the  35 


24  Woodrow  Wilson 

most  earnest  and  disinterested  friendship.  It  is  our  purpose  in 
whatever  we  do  or  propose  in  this  perplexing  and  distressing 
situation  not  only  to  pay  the  most  scrupulous  regard  to  the 
sovereignty  and  independence  of  Mexico — that  we  take  as  a 
5  matter  of  course  to  which  we  are  bound  by  every  obligation  of 
right  and  honor — but  also  to  give  every  possible  evidence  that 
we  act  in  the  interest  of 'Mexico  alone,  and  not  in  the  interest 
of  any  person  or  body  of  persons  who  may  have  personal  or 
property  claims  in  Mexico  which  they  may  feel  that  they  have 

10  the  right  to  press.  We  are  seeking  to  counsel  Mexico  for  her 
own  good  and  in  the  interest  of  her  own  peace,  and  not  for  any 
other  purpose  whatever.  The  Government  of  the  United  States 
would  deem  itself  discredited  if  it  had  any  selfish  or  ulterior  pur 
pose  in  transactions  where  the  peace,  happiness,  and  prosperity 

15  of  a  whole  people  are  involved.  It  is  acting  as  its  friendship  for 
Mexico,  not  as  any  selfish  interest,  dictates. 

The  present  situation  in  Mexico  is  incompatible  with  the 
fulfillment  of  international  obligations  on  the  part  of  Mexico, 
with  the  civilized  development  of  Mexico  herself,  and  with  the 

20  maintenance  of  tolerable  political  and  economic  conditions  in 
Central  America.  It  is  upon  no  common  occasion,  therefore, 
that  the  United  States  offers  her  counsel  and  assistance.  All 
America  cries  out  for  a  settlement. 

A  satisfactory  settlement  seems  to  us  to  be  conditioned  on — 

25  (a)  An  immediate  cessation  of  fighting  throughout  Mexico, 
a  definite  armistice  solemnly  entered  into  and  scrupulously  ob 
served; 

(b)  Security  given  for  an  early  and  free  election  in  which  all 
will  agree  to  take  part; 

30  (c)  The  consent  of  Gen.  Huerta  to  bind  himself  not  to  be  a 
candidate  for  election  as  President  of  the  Republic  at  this  elec 
tion;  and 

(d)  The  agreement  of  all  parties  to  abide  by  the  results  of 
the  election  and  cooperate  in  the  most  loyal  way  in  organizing 

35  and  supporting  the  new  administration. 

The  Government  of  the  United  States  will  be  glad  to  play 
any  part  in  this  settlement  or  in  its  carrying  out  which  it  can 
play  honorably  and  consistently  with  international  right.  It 
pledges  itself  to  recognize  and  in  every  way  possible  and  proper 

40  to  assist  the  administration  chosen  and  set  up  in  Mexico  in  the 
way  and  on  the  conditions  suggested. 


On  Mexican  Affairs  25 

Taking  all  the  existing  conditions  into  consideration,  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  can  conceive  of  no  reasons 
sufficient  to  justify  those  who  are  now  attempting  to  shape  the 
policy  or  exercise  the  authority  of  Mexico  in  declining  the 
offices  of  friendship  thus  offered.  Can  Mexico  give  the  civilized  5 
world  a  satisfactory  reason  for  rejecting  our  good  offices?  If 
Mexico  can  suggest  any  better  way  in  which  to  show  our  friend 
ship,  serve  the  people  of  Mexico,  and  meet  our  international 
obligations,  we  are  more  than  willing  to  consider  the  suggestion. 

Mr.  Lind  executed  his  delicate  and  difficult  mission  with  I0 
singular  tact,  firmness,  and  good  judgment,  and  made 
clear  to  the  authorities  at  the  City  of  Mexico  not  only  the 
purpose  of  his  visit  but  also  the  spirit  in  which  it  had  been 
undertaken.     But  the  proposals  he  submitted  were  re 
jected,  in  a  note  the  full  text  of  which  I  take  the  liberty  I5 
of  laying  before  you. 

I  am  led  to  believe  that  they  were  rejected  partly  be 
cause  the  authorities  at  Mexico  City  had  been  grossly 
misinformed  and  misled  upon  two  points.  They  did  not 
realize  the  spirit  of  the  American  people  in  this  matter,  20 
their  earnest  friendliness  and  yet  sober  determination 
that  some  just  solution  be  found  for  the  Mexican  difficul 
ties;  and  they  did  not  believe  that  the  present  administra 
tion  spoke,  through  Mr.  Lind,  for  the  people  of  the  United 
States.  The  effect  of  this  unfortunate  misunderstanding  2^ 
on  their  part  is  to  leave  them  singularly  isolated  and 
without  friends  who  can  effectually  aid  them.  So  long  as 
the  misunderstanding  continues  we  can  only  await  the 
time  of  their  awakening  to  a  realization  of  the  actual  facts. 
We  cannot  thrust  our  good  offices  upon  them.  The  situa-  30 
tion  must  be  given  a  little  more  time  to  work  itself  out  in 
the  new  circumstances;  and  I  believe  that  only  a  little 
while  will  be  necessary.  For  the  circumstances  are  new. 
The  rejection  of  our  friendship  makes  them  new  and  will 
inevitably  bring  its  own  alterations  in  the  whole  aspect  of  35 


26  Wood  row  Wilson 

affairs.    The  actual  situation  of  the  authorities  at  Mexico 
City  will  presently  be  revealed. 

Meanwhile,  what  is  it  our  duty  to  do?    Clearly,  every 
thing  that  we  do  must  be  rooted  in  patience  and  done 

5  with  calm  and  disinterested  deliberation.  Impatience  on 
our  part  would  be  childish,  and  would  be  fraught  with 
every  risk  of  wrong  and  folly.  We  can  afford  to  exercise 
the  self-restraint  of  a  really  great  nation  which  realizes 
its  own  strength  and  scorns  to  misuse  it.  It  was  our  duty 

10  to  offer  our  active  assistance.  It  is  now  our  duty  to  show 
what  true  neutrality  will  do  to  enable  the  people  of  Mexico 
to  set  their  affairs  in  order  again  and  wait  for  a  further 
opportunity  to  offer  our  friendly  counsels.  The  door  is 
not  closed  against  the  resumption,  either  upon  the  ini- 

15  tiative  of  Mexico  or  upon  our  own,  of  the  effort  to  bring 
order  out  of  the  confusion  by  friendly  cooperative  action, 
should  fortunate  occasion  offer. 

While  we  wait  the  contest  of  the  rival  forces  will  un 
doubtedly  for  a  little  while  be  sharper  than  ever,  just 

20  because  it  will  be  plain  that  an  end  must  be  made  of  the 
existing  situation,  and  that  very  promptly;  and  with  the 
increased  activity  of  the  contending  factions  will  come,  it 
is  to  be  feared,  increased  danger  to  the  non-combatants  in 
Mexico  as  well  as  to  those  actually  in  the  field  of  battle. 

25  The  position  of  outsiders  is  always  particularly  trying  and 
full  of  hazard  where  there  is  civil  strife  and  a  whole  coun 
try  is  upset.  We  should  earnestly  urge  all  Americans  to 
leave  Mexico  at  once,  and  should  assist  them  to  get  away 
in  every  way  possible — not  because  we  would  mean  to 

30  slacken  in  the  least  our  efforts  to  safeguard  their  lives  and 
their  interests,  but  because  it  is  imperative  that  they 
should  take  no  unnecessary  risks  when  it  is  physically 
possible  for  them  to  leave  the  country.  We  should  let 
every  on$  who  assumes  to  exercise  authority  in  any  part 


On  Mexican  Affairs  27 

of  Mexico  know  in  the  most  unequivocal  way  that  we 
shall  vigilantly  watch  the  fortunes  of  those  Americans 
who  cannot  get  away,  and  shall  hold  those  responsible 
for  their  sufferings  and  losses  to  a  definite  reckoning. 
That  can  be  and  will  be  made  plain  beyond  the  possibility  5 
of  a  misunderstanding. 

For  the  rest,  I  deem  it  my  duty  to  exercise  the  authority 
conferred  upon  me  by  the  law  of  March  14,  1912,  to  see 
to  it  that  neither  side  to  the  struggle  now  going  on  in 
Mexico  receive  any  assistance  from  this  side  the  border.  10 
I  shall  follow  the  best  practice  of  nations  in  the  matter  of 
neutrality  by  forbidding  the  exportation  of  arms  or  muni 
tions  of  war  of  any  kind  from  the  United  States  to  any 
part  of  the  Republic  of  Mexico — a  policy  suggested  by 
several  interesting  precedents  and  certainly  dictated  by  15 
many  manifest  considerations  of  practical  expediency. 
We  cannot  in  the  circumstances  be  the  partisans  of  either 
party  to  the  contest  that  now  distracts  Mexico,  or  con 
stitute  ourselves  the  virtual  umpire  between  them. 

I  am  happy  to  say  that  several  of  the  great  Govern-  20 
ments  of  the  world  have  given  this  Government  their 
generous  moral  support  in  urging  upon  the  provisional 
authorities  at  the  City  of  Mexico  the  acceptance  of  our 
proffered  good  offices  in  the  spirit  in  which  they  were 
made.     We  have  not  acted  in  this  matter  under  the  or-  25 
dinary   principles   of   international   obligation.     All   the 
world  expects  us  in  such  circumstances  to  act  as  Mexico's 
nearest  friend  and  intimate  adviser.     This  is  our  im 
memorial  relation  towards  her.     There  is  nowhere  any 
serious  question  that  we  have  the  moral  right  in  the  case  30 
or  that  we  are  acting  in  the  interest  of  a  fair  settlement  and 
of  good  government,  not  for  the  promotion  of  some  selfish 
interest  of  our  own.     If  further  motive  were  necessary 
than  our  own  good  will  towards  a  sister  Republic  and  our 


28  Woodrow  Wilson 

own  deep  concern  to  see  peace  and  order  prevail  in  Central 
America,  this  consent  of  mankind  to  what  we  are  at 
tempting,  this  attitude  of  the  great  nations  of  the  world 
towards  what  we  may  attempt  in  dealing  with  this  dis- 

5  tressed  people  at  our  doors,  should  make  us  feel  the  more 
solemnly  bound  to  go  to  the  utmost  length  of  patience  and 
forbearance  in  this  painful  and  anxious  business.  The 
steady  pressure  of  moral  force  will  before  many  days  break 
the  barriers  of  pride  and  prejudice  down,  and  we  shall 

10  triumph  as  Mexico's  friends  sooner  than  we  could  triumph 
as  her  enemies — and  how  much  more  handsomely,  with 
how  much  higher  and  finer  satisfactions  of  conscience  and 
of  honor! 


UNDERSTANDING  AMERICA 

[Delivered  at  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  on  the  occasion  of  the  rededication 
of  Congress  Hall,  Oct.  25,  1913.  The  United  States  Congress  met 
in  this  hall  till  1800.  Here  Washington  was  inaugurated  the  second 
time,  and  here  he  made  his  farewell  address  to  the  American  people. 
Here  John  Adams  took  the  oath  of  office  when  he  succeeded  Wash 
ington.  The  hall,  after  being  long  disused,  was  now  restored  and 
reopened.  Before  Mr.  Wilson  spoke,  Mr.  Frank  Miles  Day,  repre 
senting  the  committee  of  architects,  had  referred  to  the  "delightful 
silence,  order,  gravity,  and  personal  dignity  of  manner"  observed 
by  the  Senators  of  the  first  Congress,  and  had  said,  "They  all  ap 
peared  every  morning  full  powdered,  and  dressed,  as  age  or  fancy 
might  suggest,  in  the  richest  material."] 

YOUR  HONOR,  MR.  CHAIRMAN,  LADIES,  AND  GENTLEMEN: 
No  American  could  stand  in  this  place  to-day  and  think 
of  the  circumstances  which  we  are  come  together  to  cele 
brate  without  being  most  profoundly  stirred.  There 
has  come  over  me  since  I  sat  down  here  a  sense  of  deep  5 
solemnity,  because  it  has  seemed  to  me  that  I  saw  ghosts 
crowding — a  great  assemblage  of  spirits,  no  longer  visible, 
but  whose  influence  we  still  feel  as  we  feel  the  molding 
power  of  history  itself.  The  men  who  sat  in  this  hall,  to 
whom  we  now  look  back  with  a  touch  of  deep  sentiment,  10 
were  men  of  flesh  and  blood,  face  to  face  with  extremely 
difficult  problems.  The  population  of  the  United  States 
then  was  hardly  three  times  the  present  population  of 
the  city  of  Philadelphia,  and  yet  that  was  a  Nation  as 
this  is  a  Nation,  and  the  men  who  spoke  for  it  were  setting  15 
their  hands  to  a  work  which  was  to  last,  not  only  that 
their  people  might  be  happy,  but  that  an  example  might 
be  lifted  up  for  the  instruction  of  the  rest  of  the  world. 

I  like  to  read  the  quaint  old  accounts  such  as  Mr.  Day 
has  read  to  us  this  afternoon.     Strangers  came  then  to  20 

29 


30  Woodrow  Wilson 

America  to  see  what  the  young  people  that  had  sprung 
up  here  were  like,  and  they  found  men  in  counsel  who 
knew  how  to  construct  governments.  They  found  men 
deliberating  here  who  had  none  of  the  appearance  of 
5  novices,  none  of  the  hesitation  of  men  who  did  not  know 
whether  the  work  they  were  doing  was  going  to  last  or 
not;  men  who  addressed  themselves  to  a  problem  of 
construction  as  familiarly  as  we  attempt  to  carry  out  the 
traditions  of  a  Government  established  these  137  years. 

10  I  feel  to-day  the  compulsion  of  these  men,  the  compul 
sion  of  examples  which  were  set  up  in  this  place.  And  of 
what  do  their  examples  remind  us?  They  remind  us  not 
merely  of  public  service  but  of  public  service  shot  through 
with  principle  and  honor.  They  were  not  histrionic  men. 

15  They  did  not  say — 

Look  upon  us  as  upon  those  who  shall  hereafter  be  illustrious. 
They  said: 

Look  upon  us  who  are  doing  the  first  free  work  of  constitu 
tional  liberty  in  the  world,  and  who  must  do  it  in  soberness  and 
20  truth,  or  it  will  not  last. 

Politics,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  is  made  up  in  just  about 

;    equal  parts  of  comprehension  and  sympathy.     No  man 

ought  to  go  into  politics  who  does  not  comprehend  the 

task  that  he  is  going  to  attack.    He  may  comprehend  it 

25  so  completely  that  it  daunts  him,  that  he  doubts  whether 
his  own  spirit  is  stout  enough  and  his  own  mind  able 
enough  to  attempt  its  great  undertakings,  but  unless  he 
comprehend  it  he  ought  not  to  enter  it.  After  he  has 
comprehended  it,  there  should  come  into  his  mind  those 

30  profound  impulses  of  sympathy  which  connect  him  with 
the  rest  of  mankind,  for  politics  is  a  business  of  interpreta 
tion,  and  no  men  are  fit  for  it  who  do  not  see  and  seek  more 
than  their  own  advantage  and  interest. 


Understanding  America  31 

We  have  stumbled  upon  many  unhappy  circumstances 
in  the  hundred  years  that  have  gone  by  since  the  event 
that  we  are  celebrating.  Almost  all  of  them  have  come 
from  self-centered  men,  men  who  saw  in  their  own  interest 
the  interest  of  the  country,  and  who  did  not  have  vision  5 
enough  to  read  it  in  wider  terms,  in  the  universal  terms 
of  equity  and  justice  and  the  rights  of  mankind.  I  hear 
a  great  many  people  at  Fourth  of  July  celebrations  laud 
the  Declaration  of  Independence  who  in  between  Julys 
shiver  at  the  plain  language  of  our  bills  of  rights.  The  10 
Declaration  of  Independence  was,  indeed,  the  first  audible 
breath  of  liberty,  but  the  substance  of  liberty  is  written 
in  such  documents  as  the  declaration  of  rights  attached, 
for  example,  to  the  first  constitution  of  Virginia,  which 
was  a  model  for  the  similar  documents  read  elsewhere  15 
into  our  great  fundamental  charters.  That  document 
speaks  in  very  plain  terms.  The  men  of  that  generation 
did  not  hesitate  to  say  that  every  people  has  a  right  to 
choose  its  own  forms  of  government — not  once,  but  as 
often  as  it  pleases — and  to  accommodate  those  forms  of  20 
government  to  its  existing  interests  and  circumstances. 
Not  only  to  establish  but  to  alter  is  the  fundamental 
principle  of  self-government. 

We  are  just  as  much  under  compulsion  to  study  the 
particular  circumstances  of  our  own  day  as  the  gentlemen  25 
were  who  sat  in  this  hall  and  set  us  precedents,  not  of 
what  to  do  but  of  how  to  do  it.  Liberty  inheres  in  the 
circumstances  of  the  day.  Human  happiness  consists 
in  the  life  which  human  beings  are  leading  at  the  time  that 
they  live.  I  can  feed  my  memory  as  happily  upon  the  30 
circumstances  of  the  revolutionary  and  constitutional 
period  as  you  can,  but  I  cannot  feed  all  my  purposes 
with  them  in  Washington  now.  Every  day  problems 
arise  which  wear  some  new  phase  and  aspect,  and  I  must 


32  Woodrow  Wilson 

fall  back,  if  I  would  serve  my  conscience,  upon  those  things 
which  are  fundamental  rather  than  upon  those  things 
which  are  superficial,  and  ask  myself  this  question,  How 
are  you  going  to  assist  in  some  small  part  to  give  the 
5  American  people  and,  by  example,  the  peoples  of  the 
world  more  liberty,  more  happiness,  more  substantial 
prosperity;  and  how  are  you  going  to  make  that  prosper 
ity  a  common  heritage  instead  of  a  selfish  possession? 
I  came  here  to-day  partly  in  order  to  feed  my  own  spirit.  I 

10  did  not  come  in  compliment.  When  I  was  asked  to  come 
I  knew  immediately  upon  the  utterance  of  the  invita 
tion  that  I  had  to  come,  that  to  be  absent  would  be  as  if 
I  refused  to  drink  once  more  at  the  original  fountains  of 
inspiration  for  our  own  Government. 

15  The  men  of  the  day  which  we  now  celebrate  had  a  very 
great  advantage  over  us,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  in  this 
one  particular:  Life  was  simple  in  America  then.  All 
men  shared  the  same  circumstances  in  almost  equal  de 
gree.  We  think  of  Washington,  for  example,  as  an  aristo- 

20  crat,  as  a  man  separated  by  training,  separated  by  family 
and  neighborhood  tradition,  from  the  ordinary  people 
of  the  rank  and  file  of  the  country.  Have  you  forgotten 
the  personal  history  of  George  Washington?  Do  you 
not  know  that  he  struggled  as  poor  boys  now  struggle 

25  for  a  meager  and  imperfect  education;  that  he  worked  at 
his  surveyor's  tasks  in  the  lonely  forests;  that  he  knew 
all  the  roughness,  all  the  hardships,  all  the  adventure, 
all  the  variety  of  the  common  life  of  that  day;  and  that 
if  he  stood  a  little  stiffly  in  this  place,  if  he  looked  a  little 

30  aloof,  it  was  because  life  had  dealt  hardly  with  him?  All 
his  sinews  had  been  stiffened  by  the  rough  work  of  making 
America.  He  was  a  man  of  the  people,  whose  touch  had 
been  with  them  since  the  day  he  saw  the  light  first  in  the 
old  Dominion  of  Virginia.  And  the  men  who  came  after 


Understanding  America  33 

him,  men,  some  of  whom  had  drunk  deep  at  the  sources 
of.  philosophy  and  of  study,  were,  nevertheless,  also  men 
who  on  this  side  of  the  water  knew  no  complicated  life 
but  the  simple  life  of  primitive  neighborhoods.    Our  task 
is  very  much  more  difficult.    That  sympathy  which  alone    5 
interprets  public  duty  is  more  difficult  for  a  public  man 
to  acquire  now  than  it  was  then,  because  we  live  in  the 
midst  of  circumstances  and  conditions  infinitely  complex. 
No  man  can  boast  that  he  understands  America.    No 
man  can  boast  that  he  has  lived  the  life  of  America,  as  10 
almost  every  man  who  sat  in  this  hall  in  those  days  could 
boast.     No  man  can  pretend  that  except  by  common 
counsel  he  can  gather  into  his  consciousness  what  the 
varied  life  of  this  people  is.    The  duty  that  we  have  to 
keep  open  eyes  and  open  hearts  and  accessible  understand-  15 
ings  is  a  very  much  more  difficult  duty  to  perform  than 
it  was  in  their  day.    Yet  how  much  more  important  that 
it  should  be  performed,  for  fear  we  make  infinite  and  ir 
reparable  blunders.    The  city  of  Washington  is  in  some 
respects  self-contained,  and  it  is  easy  there  to  forget  what  20 
the  rest  of  the  United  States  is  thinking  about.    I  count 
it  a  fortunate  circumstance  that  almost  all  the  windows 
of  the  White  House  and  its  offices  open  upon  unoccupied 
spaces  that  stretch  to  the  banks  of  the  Potomac  and  then 
out  into  Virginia  and  on  to  the  heavens  themselves,  and  25 
that  as  I  sit  there  I  can  constantly  forget  Washington  and 
remember  the  United  States.    Not  that  I  would  intimate 
that  all  of  the  United  States  lies  south  of  Washington, 
but  there  is  a  serious  thing  back  of  my  thought.    If  you 
think  too  much  about  being  reflected,  it  is  very  difficult  30 
to  be  worth  reelecting.    You  are  so  apt  to  forget  that  the 
comparatively   small   number  of  persons,   numerous   as 
they  seem  to  be  when  they  swarm,  who  come  to  Washing 
ton  to  ask  for  things,  do  not  constitute  an  important 


34  Woodrow  Wilson 

proportion  of  the  population  of  the  country,  that  it  is 
constantly  necessary  to  come  away  from  Washington  and 
renew  one's  contact  with  the  people  who  do  not  swarm 
there,  who  do  not  ask  for  anything,  but  who  do  trust  you 
5  without  their  personal  counsel  to  do  your  duty.  Unless 
a  man  gets  these  contacts  he  grows  weaker  and  weaker. 
He  needs  them  as  Hercules  needed  the  touch  of  mother 
earth.  If  you  lift  him  up  too  high  or  he  lifts  himself  too 
high,  he  loses  the  contact  and  therefore  loses  the  in- 

jo  spiration. 

I  love  to  think  of  those  plain  men,  however  far  from 
plain  their  dress  sometimes  was,  who  assembled  in  this 
hall.  One  is  startled  to  think  of  the  variety  of  costume 
and  color  which  would  now  occur  if  we  were  let  loose 

15  upon  the  fashions  of  that  age.  Men's  lack  of  taste  is 
largely  concealed  now  by  the  limitations  of  fashion.  Yet 
these  men,  who  sometimes  dressed  like  the  peacock,  were, 
nevertheless,  of  the  ordinary  flight  of  their  time.  They 
were  birds  of  a  feather;  they  were  birds  come  from  a  very 

20  simple  breeding;  they  were  much  in  the  open  heaven. 
They  were  beginning,  when  there  was  so  little  to  distract 
their  attention,  to  show  that  they  could  live  upon  funda 
mental  principles  of  government.  We  talk  those  princi 
ples,  but  we  have  not  time  to  absorb  them.  We  have  not 

25  time  to  let  them  into  our  blood,  and  thence  have  them 
translated  into  the  plain  mandates  of  action. 

The  very  smallness  of  this  room,  the  very  simplicity  of 
it  all,  all  the  suggestions  which  come  from  its  restoration, 
are  reassuring  things — things  which  it  becomes  a  man  to 

30  realize.  Therefore  my  theme  here  to-day,  my  only  thought, 
is  a  very  simple  one.  Do  not  let  us  go  back  to  the  annals 
of  those  sessions  of  Congress  to  find  out  what  to  do,  be 
cause  we  live  in  another  age  and  the  circumstances  are 
absolutely  different;  but  let  us  be  men  of  that  kind;  let 


Understanding  America  35 

us  feel  at  every  turn  the  compulsions  of  principle  and  of 
honor  which  thy  felt;  let  us  free  our  vision  from  temporary 
circumstances  and  look  abroad  at  the  horizon  and  take 
into  our  lungs  the  great  air  of  freedom  which  has  blown 
through  this  country  and  stolen  across  the  seas  and  blessed    5 
people  everywhere;  and,  looking  east  and  west  and  north 
and  south,  let  us  remind  ourselves  that  we  are  the  custo 
dians,  in  some  degree,  of  the  principles  which  have  made  j 
men  free  and  governments  just. 


ADDRESS  BEFORE  THE  SOUTHERN  COMMER 
CIAL  CONGRESS 

[Delivered  at  Mobile,  Alabama,  October  27,  1913.] 

YOUR  EXCELLENCY,  MR.  CHAIRMAN: 

It  is  with  unaffected  pleasure  that  I  find  myself  here 
to-day.    I  once  before  had  the  pleasure,  in  another  south 
ern  city,  of  addressing  the  Southern  Commercial  Con- 
5  gress.    I  then  spoke  of  what  the  future  seemed  to  hold  in 
store  for  this  region,  which  so  many  of  us  love  and  toward 
the  future  of  which  we  all  look  forward  with  so  much  con 
fidence  and  hope.    But  another  theme  directed  me  here 
this  time.    I  do  not  need  to  speak  of  the  South.    She  has, 
10  perhaps,  acquired  the  gift  of  speaking  for  herself.    I  come 
because  I  want  to  speak  of  our  present  and  prospective 
relations  with  our  neighbors  to  the  south.    I  deemed  it  a 
public  duty,  as  well  as  a  personal  pleasure,  to  be  here  to 
express  for  myself  and  for  the  Government  I  represent 
15  the  welcome  we  all  feel  to  those  who  represent  the  Latin- 
American  States. 

The  future,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  is  going  to  be  very 
different  for  this  hemisphere  from  the  past.    These  States 
lying  to  the  south  of  us,  which  have  always  been  our  neigh- 
so  bors,  will  now  be  drawn  closer  to  us  by  innumerable  ties, 
and,  I  hope,  chief  of  all  by  the  tie  of  a  common  under 
standing  of  each  other.    Interest  does  not  tie  nations  to 
gether;  it  sometimes  separates  them.    But  sympathy  and 
understanding  does  unite  them,  and  I  believe  that  by  the 
25  new  route  that  is  just  about  to  be  opened,  while  we  physic 
ally  cut  two  continents  asunder,  we  spiritually  unite  them, 
[t  is  a  spiritual  union  which  we  seek. 
36 


The  Southern  Commercial  Congress         37 

I  wonder  if  you  realize,  I  wonder  if  your  imaginations 
have  been  rilled  with  the  significance  of  the  tides  of  com 
merce.  Your  Governor  alluded  in  very  fit  and  striking 
terms  to  the  voyage  of  Columbus,  but  Columbus  took  his 
voyage  under  compulsion  of  circumstances.  Constan-  5 
tinople  had  been  captured  by  the  Turks,  and  all  the 
routes  of  trade  with  the  East  had  been  suddenly  closed. 
If  there  was  not  a  way  across  the  Atlantic  to  open  those 
routes  again,  they  were  closed  forever;  and  Columbus  set 
out  not  to  discover  America,  for  he  did  not  know  that  it  10 
existed,  but  to  discover  the  eastern  shores  of  Asia.  He 
set  sail  for  Cathay  and  stumbled  upon  America.  With 
that  change  in  the  outlook  of  the  world,  what  happened? 
England,  that  had  been  at  the  back  of  Europe  with  an 
unknown  sea  behind  her,  found  that  all  things  had  turned  15 
as  if  upon  a  pivot  and  she  was  at  the  front  of  Europe;  and 
since  then  all  the  tides  of  energy  and  enterprise  that  have 
issued  out  of  Europe  have  seemed  to  be  turned  westward 
across  the  Atlantic.  But  you  will  notice  that  they  have 
turned  westward  chiefly  north  of  the  Equator,  and  that  20 
it  is  the  northern  half  of  the  globe  that  has  seemed  to  be 
filled  with  the  media  of  intercourse  and  of  sympathy  and 
of  common  understanding. 

Do  you  not  see  now  what  is  about  to  happen?  These 
great  tides  which  have  been  running  along  parallels  of  25 
latitude  will  now  swing  southward  athwart  parallels  of 
latitude,  and  that  opening  gate  at  the  Isthmus  of  Panama 
will  open  the  world  to  a  commerce  that  she  has  not  known 
before,  a  commerce  of  intelligence,  of  thought,  and  sym 
pathy  between  North  and  South.  The  Latin-American  30 
States  which,  to  their  disadvantage,  have  been  off  the 
main  lines  will  now  be  on  the  main  lines.  I  feel  that  these 
gentlemen  honoring  us  with  their  presence  to-day  will 
presently  find  that  some  part,  at  any  rate,  of  the  center 


38  Woodrow  Wilson 

of  gravity  of  the  world  has  shifted.  Do  you  realize  that 
New  York,  for  example,  will  be  nearer  the  western  coast 
of  South  America  than  she  is  now  to  the  eastern  coast  of 
South  America?  Do  you  realize  that  a  line  drawn  north- 
5  ward  parallel  with  the  greater  part  of  the  western  coast  of 
South  America  will  run  only  about  one  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  west  of  New  York?  The  great  bulk  of  South  America, 
if  you  will  look  at  your  globes  (not  at  your  Mercator's  pro 
jection),  lies  eastward  of  the  continent  of  North  America. 

10  You  will  realize  that  when  you  realize  that  the  canal  will 
run  southeast,  not  southwest,  and  that  when  you  get  into 
the  Pacific  you  will  be  farther  east  then  you  were  when 
you  left  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  These  things  are  significant, 
therefore,  of  this,  that  we  are  closing  one  chapter  in  the 

15  history  of  the  world  and  are  opening  another  of  great, 
unimaginable  significance. 

There  is  one  peculiarity  about  the  history  of  the  Latin- 
American  States  which  I  am  sure  they  are  keenly  aware 
of.  You  hear  of  "concessions"  to  foreign  capitalists  in 

20  Latin  America.  You  do  not  hear  of  concessions  to  foreign 
capitalists  in  the  United  States.  They  are  not  granted 
concessions.  They  are  invited  to  make  investments. 
The  work  is  ours,  though  they  are  welcome  to  invest  in  it. 
We  do  not  ask  them  to  supply  the  capital  and  do  the  work. 

25  It  is  an  invitation,  not  a  privilege;  and  States  that  are 
obliged,  because  their  territory  does  not  lie  within  the 
main  field  of  modern  enterprise  and  action,  to  grant  con 
cessions  are  in  this  condition,  that  foreign  interests  are 
apt  to  dominate  their  domestic  affairs,  a  condition  of 

30  affairs  always  dangerous  and  apt  to  become  intolerable. 
What  these  States  are  going  to  see,  therefore,  is  an  emanci 
pation  from  the  subordination,  which  has  been  inevitable, 
to  foreign  enterprise  and  an  assertion  of  the  splendid 
character  which,  in  spite  of  these  difficulties,  they  have 


CU^L  /C<U^y 

The  Southern  Commercial  Congress         39 

again  and  again  been  able  to  demonstrate.  The  dignity, 
the  courage,  the  self-possession,  the  self-respect  of  the 
Latin-American  States,  their  achievements  in  the  face  of 
all  these  adverse  circumstances,  deserve  nothing  but  the 
admiration  and  applause  of  the  world.  They  have  had  5 
harder  bargains  driven  with  them  in  the  matter  of  loans 
than  any  other  peoples  in  the  world.  Interest  has  been 
exacted  of  them  that  was  not  exacted  of  anybody  else, 
because  the  risk  was  said  to  be  greater;  and  then  securities 
were  taken  that  destroyed  the  risk — an  admirable  ar-  10 
rangement  for  those  who  were  forcing  the  terms!  I  re 
joice  in  nothing  so  much  as  in  the  prospect  that  they  will 
now  be  emancipated  from  these  conditions;  and  we  ought 
to  be  the  first  to  take  part  in  assisting  in  that  emancipa 
tion.  I  think  some  of  these  gentlemen  have  already  had  15 
occasion  to  bear  witness  that  the  Department  of  State  in 
recent  months  has  tried  to  serve  them  in  that  wise.  In 
the  future  they  will  draw  closer  and  closer  to  us  because 
of  circumstances  of  which  I  wish  to  speak  with  moderation 
and,  I  hope,  without  indiscretion.  20 

We  must  prove  ourselves  their  friends  and  champions 
upon  terms  of  equality  and  honor.  You  cannot  be  friends 
upon  any  other  terms  than  upon  the  terms  of  equality. 
You  cannot  be  friends  at  all  except  upon  the  terms  of 
honor.  We  must  show  ourselves  friends  by  comprehend-  25 
ing  their  interest  whether  it  squares  with  our  own  interest 
or  not.  It  is  a  very  perilous  thing  to  determine  the  foreign 
policy  of  a  nation  in  the  terms  of  material  interest.  It 
not  only  is  unfair  to  those  with  whom  you  are  dealing, 
but  it  is  degrading  as  regards  your  own  actions.  30 

Comprehension  must  be  the  soil  in  which  shall  grow 
all  the  fruits  of  friendship,  and  there  is  a  reason  and  a 
compulsion  lying  behind  all  this  which  is  dearer  than  any 
thing  else  to  the  thoughtful  men  of  America.  I  mean  the 


4O  Woodrow  Wilson 

development  of  constitutional  liberty  in  the  world.  Hu 
man  rights,  national  integrity,  and  opportunity  as  against 
material  interests — that,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  is  the  issue 
which  we  now  have  to  face.  I  want  to  take  this  occasion 
5  to  say  that  the  United  States  will  never  again  seek  one 
additional  foot  of  territory  by  conquest.  She  will  devote 
herself  to  showing  that  she  knows  how  to  make  honorable 
and  fruitful  use  of  the  territory  she  has,  and  she  must  re 
gard  it  as  one  of  the  duties  of  friendship  to  see  that  from 

10  no  quarter  are  material  interests  made  superior  to  human 
liberty  and  national  opportunity.  I  say  this,  not  with  a 
single  thought  that  anyone  will  gainsay  it,  but  merely  to 
fix  in  our  consciousness  what  our  real  relationship  with  the 
rest  of  America  is.  It  is  the  relationship  of  a  family  of 

15  mankind  devoted  to  the  development  of  true  constitu 
tional  liberty.  We  know  that  that  is  the  soil  out  of  which 
the  best  enterprise  springs.  We  know  that  this  is  a  cause 
which  we  are  making  in  common  with  our  neighbors,  be 
cause  we  have  had  to  make  it  for  ourselves. 

20  Reference  has  been  made  here  to-day  to  some  of  the  na 
tional  problems  which  confront  us  as  a  nation.  What  is 
at  the  heart  of  all  our  national  problems?  It  is  that  we 
have  seen  the  hand  of  material  interest  sometimes  about  to 
close  upon  our  dearest  rights  and  possessions.  We  have 

25  seen  material  interests  threaten  constitutional  freedom  in 
the  United  States.  Therefore  we  will  now  know  how  to 
sympathize  with  those  in  the  rest  of  America  who  have  to 
contend  with  such  powers,  not  only  within  their  borders 
but  from  outside  their  borders  also. 

30  I  know  what  the  response  of  the  thought  and  heart  of 
America  will  be  to  the  program  I  have  outlined,  because 
America  was  created  to  realize  a  program  like  that.  This 
is  not  America  because  it  is  rich.  This  is  not  America  be 
cause  it  has  set  up  for  a  great  population  great  opportuni- 


The  Southern  Commercial  Congress.       41 

ties  of  material  prosperity  .\  America  is  a  name  which 
sounds  in  the  ears  of  men  everywhere  as  a  synonym  with 
individual  opportunity  because  a  synonym  of  individual 
liberty.  |  would  rather  belong  to  a  poor  nation  that  was 
free  than  to  a  rich  nation  that  had  ceased  to  be  in  love  5 
with  liberty.  But  we  shall  not  be  poor  if  we  love  liberty, 
because  the  nation  that  loves  liberty  truly  sets  every  man 
free  to  do  his  best  and  be  his  best,  and  that  means  the 
release  of  all  the  splendid  energies  of  a  great  people  who 
think  for  themselves.  A  nation  of  employees  cannot  be  10 
free  any  more  than  a  nation  of  employers  can  be. 

In  emphasizing  the  points  which  must  unite  us  in  sym 
pathy  and  in  spiritual  interest  with  the  Latin-American 
peoples  we  are  only  emphasizing  the  points  of  our  own  life, 
and  we  should  prove  ourselves  untrue  to  our  own  tradi-  15 
tions  if  we  proved  ourselves  untrue  friends  to  them.  Do 
not  think,  therefore,  gentlemen,  that  the  questions  of  the 
day  are  mere  questions  of  policy  and  diplomacy.  They 
are  shot  through  with  the  principles  of  life.  We  dare  not 
turn  from  the  principle  that  morality  and  not  expediency  20 
is  the  thing  that  must  guide  us  and  that  we  will  never  con 
done  iniquity  because  it  is  most  convenient  to  do  so.  It 
seems  to  me  that  this  is  a  day  of  infinite  hope,  of  confidence 
in  a  future  greater  than  the  past  has  been,  for  I  am  fain 
to  believe  that  in  spite  of  all  the  things  that  we  wish  to  25 
correct  the  nineteenth  century  that  now  lies  behind  us  has 
brought  us  a  long  stage  toward  the  time  when,  slowly  as 
cending  the  tedious  climb  that  leads  to  the  final  uplands, 
we  shall  get  our  ultimate  view  of  the  duties  of  mankind. 
We  have  breasted  a  considerable  part  of  that  climb  and  30 
shall  presently — it  may  be  in  a  generation  or  two — come 
out  upon  those  great  heights  where  there  shines  unob 
structed  the  light  of  the  justice  of  God. 


i/ 


THE  STATE  OF  THE  UNION 

[Address  delivered  at  a  joint  session  of  the  two  Houses  of  Congress, 
December  2,  1913.] 

MR.    SPEAKER,   MR.   PRESIDENT,   GENTLEMEN   OF   THE 

CONGRESS: 

In  pursuance  of  my  constitutional  duty  to  "give  to  the 
Congress  information  of  the  state  of  the  Union,"  I  take 
5  the  liberty  of  addressing  you  on  several  matters  which 
ought,  as  it  seems  to  me,  particularly  to  engage  the  atten 
tion  of  your  honorable  bodies,  as  of  all  who  study  the 
welfare  and  progress  of  the  Nation. 

I  shall  ask  your  indulgence  if  I  venture  to  depart  in 
10  some  degree  from  the  usual  custom  of  setting  before  you 
in  formal  review  the  many  matters  which  have  engaged 
the  attention  and  called  for  the  action  of  the  several  de 
partments  of  the  Government  or  which  look  to  them  for 
early  treatment  in  the  future,  because  the  list  is  long, 
15  very  long,  and  would  suffer  in  the  abbreviation  to  which 
I  should  have  to  subject  it.  I  shall  submit  to  you  the 
reports  of  the  heads  of  the  several  departments,  in  which 
these  subjects  are  set  forth  in  careful  detail,  and  beg  that 
they  may  receive  the  thoughtful  attention  of  your  corn- 
so  mittees  and  of  all  Members  of  the  Congress  who  may  have 
the  leisure  to  study  them.  Their  obvious  importance,  as 
constituting  the  very  substance  of  the  business  of  the 
Government,  makes  comment  and  emphasis  on  my  part 
unnecessary. 

25      The  country,  I  am  thankful  to  say,  is  at  peace  with  all 
the   world,    and   many   happy   manifestations   multiply 
about  us  of  a  growing  cordiality  and  sense  of  community 
42 


The  State  of  the  Union  43 

of  interest  among  the  nations,  foreshadowing  an  age  of 
settled  peace  and  good  will.    More  and  more  readily  each    ' 
decade  do  the  nations  manifest  their  willingness  to  bind          / 
themselves  by  solemn  treaty  to  the  processes  of  peace, 
the  processes  of  frankness  and  fair  concession.    So  far  the  /  5 
United  States  has  stood  at  the  front  of  such  negotiations.  ' 
She  will,  I  earnestly  hope  and  confidently  believe,  give  fresh 
proof  of  her  sincere  adherence  to  the  cause  of  interna 
tional  friendship  by  ratifying  the  several  treaties  of  ar 
bitration  awaiting  renewal  by  the  Senate.     In  addition  10 
to  these,  it  has  been  the  privilege  of  the  Department  of 
State  to  gain  the  assent,  in  principle,  of  no  less  than  thirty- 
one  nations,  representing  four-fifths  of  the  population  of  the 
world,   to  the  negotiation  of  treaties  by  which  it  shall 
be  agreed  that   whenever   differences   of   interest  or  of  15 
policy  arise  which   cannot  be  resolved  by  the  ordinary 
processes  of  diplomacy  they  shall  be  publicly  analyzed, 
discussed,  and  reported  upon  by  a  tribunal  chosen  by 
the  parties  before  either   nation  determines  its   course 
of  action.  20 

There  is  only  one  possible  standard  by  which  to  deter 
mine  controversies  between  the  United  States  and  other 
nations,  and  that  is  compounded  of  these  two  elements: 
Our  own  honor  and  our  obligations  to  the  peace  of  the 
world.  A  test  so  compounded  ought  easily  to  be  made  to  25 
govern  both  the  establishment  of  new  treaty  obligations 
and  the  interpretation  of  those  already  assumed. 

There  is  but  one  cloud  upon  our  horizon.  That  has 
shown  itself  to  the  south  of  us,  and  hangs  over  Mexico. 
There  can  be  no  certain  prospect  of  peace  in  America  until  30 
Gen.  Huerta  has  surrendered  his  usurped  authority  in 
Mexico;  until  it  is  understood  on  all  hands,  indeed,  that 
such  pretended  governments  will  not  be  countenanced 
or  dealt  with  by  the  Government  of  the  United  States. 


U/T, 

44  Woodrow  Wilson 

We  are  the  friends  of  constitutional  government  in  Amer 
ica;  we  are  more  than  its  friends,  we  are  its  champions; 
because  in  no  other  way  can  our  neighbors,  to  whom  we 
would  wish  in  every  way  to  make  proof  of  our  friendship, 

5  work  out  their  own  development  in  peace  and  liberty. 
Mexico  has  no  Government.  The  attempt  to  maintain 
one  at  the  City  of  Mexico  has  broken  down,  and  a  mere 
military  despotism  has  been  set  up  which  has  hardly  more 
than  the  semblance  of  national  authority.  It  originated 

10  in  the  usurpation  of  Victoriano  Huerta,  who,  after  a  brief 
attempt  to  play  the  part  of  constitutional  President,  has 
at  last  cast  aside  even  the  pretense  of  legal  right  and  de 
clared  himself  dictator.  As  a  consequence,  a  condition  of 
affairs  now  exists  in  Mexico  which  has  made  it  doubtful 

15  whether  even  the  most  elementary  and  fundamental  rights 
either  of  her  own  people  or  of  the  citizens  of  other  coun 
tries  resident  within  her  territory  can  long  be  successfully 
safeguarded,  and  which  threatens,  if  long  continued,  to 
imperil  the  interests  of  peace,  order,  and  tolerable  life  in 

20  the  lands  immediately  to  the  south  of  us.  Even  if  the 
usurper  had  succeeded  in  his  purposes,  in  despite  of  the 
constitution  of  the  Republic  and  the  rights  of  its  people, 
he  would  have  set  up  nothing  but  a  precarious  and  hateful 
power,  which  could  have  lasted  but  a  little  while,  and 

25  whose  eventual  downfall  would  have  left  the  country  in  a 
more  deplorable  condition  than  ever.  But  he  has  not 
succeeded.  He  has  forfeited  the  respect  and  the  moral 
support  even  of  those  who  were  at  one  time  willing  to  see 
him  succeed.  Little  by  little  he  has  been  completely 

30  isolated.  By  a  little  every  day  his  power  and  prestige  are 
crumbling  and  the  collapse  is  not  far  away.  We  shall 
not,  I  believe,  be  obliged  to  alter  our  policy  of  watchful 
waiting.  And  then,  when  the  end  comes,  we  shall  hope  to 
see  constitutional  order  restored  in  distressed  Mexico  by 


The  State  of  the  Union  45 

the  concert  and  energy  of  such  of  her  leaders  as  prefer  the 
liberty  of  their  people  to  their  own  ambitions. 

I  turn  to  matters  of  domestic  concern.  You  already 
have  under  consideration  a  bill  for  the  reform  of  our  system 
of  banking  and  currency,  for  which  the  country  waits  with  5 
impatience,  as  for  something  fundamental  to  its  whole 
business  life  and  necessary  to  set  credit  free  from  arbitrary 
and  artificial  restraints.  I  need  not  say  how  earnestly 
I  hope  for  its  early  enactment  into  law.  I  take  leave  to 
beg  that  the  whole  energy  and  attention  of  the  Senate  be  10 
concentrated  upon  it  till  the  matter  is  successfully  disposed 
of.  And  yet  I  feel  that  the  request  is  not  needed — that 
the  Members  of  that  great  House  need  no  urging  in  this 
service  to  the  country. 

I  present  to  you,  in  addition,  the  urgent  necessity  that  15 
special  provision  be  made  also  for  facilitating  the  credits 
needed  by  the  farmers  of  the  country.    The  pending  cur 
rency  bill  does  the  farmers  a  great  service.    It  puts  them 
upon  an  equal  footing  with  other  business  men  and  masters 
of  enterprise,  as  it  should;  and  upon  its  passage  they  will  20 
find  themselves  quit  of  many  of  the  difficulties  which  now 
hamper  them  in  the  field  of  credit.    The  farmers,  of  course, 
ask  and  should  be  given  no  special  privilege,  such  as  ex 
tending  to  them  the  credit  of  the  Government  itself. 
What  they  need  and  should  obtain  is  legislation  which  will  25 
make  their  own  abundant  and  substantial  credit  resources 
available  as  a  foundation  for  joint,  concerted  local  action 
in  their  own  behalf  in  getting  the  capital  they  must  use. 
It  is  to  this  we  should  now  address  ourselves. 

It  has,  singularly  enough,  come  to  pass  that  we  have  30 
allowed  the  industry  of  our  farms  to  lag  behind  the  other 
activities  of  the  country  in  its  development.    I  need  not 
stop  to  tell  you  how  fundamental  to  the  life  of  the  Nation 
is  the  production  of  its  food.    Our  thoughts  may  ordinarily 


46  Woodrow  Wilson 

be  concentrated  upon  the  cities  and  the  hives  of  industry, 
upon  the  cries  of  the  crowded  market  place  and  the  clangor 
of  the  factory,  but  it  is  from  the  quiet  interspaces  of  the 
open  valleys  and  the  free  hillsides  that  we  draw  the  sources 
5  of  life  and  of  prosperity,  from  the  farm  and  the  ranch,  from 
the  forest  and  the  mine.  Without  these  every  street 
would  be  silent,  every  office  deserted,  every  factory  fallen 
into  disrepair.  And  yet  the  farmer  does  not  stand  upon 
the  same  footing  with  the  forester  and  the  miner  in  the 

10  market  of  credit.  He  is  the  servant  of  the  seasons.  Nature 
determines  how  long  he  must  wait  for  his  crops,  and  will 
not  be  hurried  in  her  processes.  He  may  give  his  note, 
but  the  season  of  its  maturity  depends  upon  the  season 
when  his  crop  matures,  lies  at  the  gates  of  the  market  where 

15  his  products  are  sold.  And  the  security  he  gives  is  of  a 
character  not  known  in  the  broker's  office  or  as  familiarly 
as  it  might  be  on  the  counter  of  the  banker. 

The  Agricultural  Department  of  the  Government  is 
seeking  to  assist  as  never  before  to  make  farming  an 

20  efficient  business,  of  wide  cooperative  effort,  in  quick  touch 
with  the  markets  for  foodstuffs.  The  farmers  and  the 
Government  will  henceforth  work  together  as  real  partners 
in  this  field,  where  we  now  begin  to  see  our  way  very  clearly 
and  where  many  intelligent  plans  are  already  being  put 

25  into  execution.  The  Treasury  of  the  United  States  has,  by 
a  timely  and  well-considered  distribution  of  its  deposits, 
facilitated  the  moving  of  the  crops  in  the  present  season 
and  prevented  the  scarcity  of  available  funds  too  often 
experienced  at  such  times.  But  we  must  not  allow  our- 

30  selves  to  depend  upon  extraordinary  expedients.  We  must 
add  the  means  by  which  the  farmer  may  make  his  credit 
constantly  and  easily  available  and  command  when  he 
will  the  capital  by  which  to  support  and  expand  his  busi 
ness.  We  lag  behind  many  other  great  countries  of  the 


The  State  of  the  Union  47 

modern  world  in  attempting  to  do  this.  Systems  of  rural 
credit  have  been  studied  and  developed  on  the  other  side 
of  the  water  while  we  left  our  farmers  to  shift  for  them 
selves  in  the  ordinary  money  market.  You  have  but  to 
look  about  you  in  any  rural  district  to  see  the  result,  the  5 
handicap  and  embarrassment  which  have  been  put  upon 
those  who  produce  our  food. 

Conscious  of  this  backwardness  and  neglect  on  our  part, 
the  Congress  recently  authorized  the  creation  of  a  special 
commission  to  study  the  various  systems  of  rural  credit  10 
which  have  been  put  into  operation  in  Europe,  and  this 
commission  is  already  prepared  to  report.  Its  report  ought 
to  make  it  easier  for  us  to  determine  what  methods  will 
be  best  suited  to  our  own  farmers.  I  hope  and  believe  that 
the  committees  of  the  Senate  and  House  will  address  them-  15 
selves  to  this  matter  with  the  most  fruitful  results,  and  I 
believe  that  the  studies  and  recently  formed  plans  of  the 
Department  of  Agriculture  may  be  made  to  serve  them 
very  greatly  in  their  work  of  framing  appropriate  and 
adequate  legislation.  It  would  be  indiscreet  and  pre-  20 
sumptuous  in  anyone  to  dogmatize  upon  so  great  and 
many-sided  a  question,  but  I  feel  confident  that  common 
counsel  will  produce  the  results  we  must  all  desire. 

Turn  from  the  farm  to  the  world  of  business  which  cen 
ters  in  the  city  and  in  the  factory,  and  I  think  that  all  25 
thoughtful  observers  will  agree  that  the  immediate  service 
we  owe  the  business  communities  of  the  country  is  to 
prevent  private  monopoly  more  effectually  than  it  has 
yet  been  prevented.  I  think  it  will  be  easily  agreed  that 
we  should  let  the  Sherman  antitrust  law  stand,  unaltered,  30 
as  it  is,  with  its  debatable  ground  about  it,  but  that  we 
should  as  much  as  possible  reduce  the  area  of  that  de 
batable  ground  by  further  and  more  explicit  legislation; 
and  should  also  supplement  that  great  act  by  legislation 


48  Woodrow  Wilson 

which  will  not  only  clarify  it  but  also  facilitate  its  adminis 
tration  and  make  it  fairer  to  all  concerned.  No  doubt  we 
shall  all  wish,  and  the  country  will  expect,  this  to  be  the 
central  subject  of  our  deliberations  during  the  present 
5  session;  but  it  is  a  subject  so  many-sided  and  so  deserving 
of  careful  and  discriminating  discussion  that  I  shall  take 
the  liberty  of  addressing  you  upon  it  in  a  special  message 
at  a  later  date  than  this.  It  is  of  capital  importance  that 
the  business  men  of  this  country  should  be  relieved  of  all 

10  uncertainties  of  law  with  regard  to  their  enterprises  and 
investments  and  a  clear  path  indicated  which  they  can 
travel  without  anxiety.  It  is  as  important  that  they 
should  be  relieved  of  embarrassment  and  set  free  to 
prosper  as  that  private  monopoly  should  be  destroyed. 

15  The  ways  of  action  should  be  thrown  wide  open. 

I  turn  to  a  subject  which  I  hope  can  be  handled  promptly 
and  without  serious  controversy  of  any  kind.  I  mean  the 
method  of  selecting  nominees  for  the  Presidency  of  the 
United  States.  I  feel  confident  that  I  do  not  misinterpret 

20  the  wishes  or  the  expectations  of  the  country  when  I  urge 
the  prompt  enactment  of  legislation  which  will  provide  for 
primary  elections  throughout  the  country  at  which  the 
voters  of  the  several  parties  may  choose  their  nominees  for 
the  Presidency  without  the  intervention  of  nominating 

25  conventions.  I  venture  the  suggestion  that  this  legislation 
should  provide  for  the  retention  of  party  conventions,  but 
only  for  the  purpose  of  declaring  and  accepting  the  verdict 
of  the  primaries  and  formulating  the  platforms  of  the 
parties;  and  I  suggest  that  these  conventions  should  con- 

30  sist  not  of  delegates  chosen  for  this  single  purpose,  but  of 
the  nominees  for  Congress,  the  nominees  for  vacant  seats 
in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  the  Senators  whose 
terms  have  not  yet  closed,  the  national  committees,  and 
the  candidates  for  the  Presidency  themselves,  in  order  that 


The  State  of  the  Union  49 

platforms  may  be  framed  by  those  responsible  to  the 
people  for  carrying  them  into  effect. 

These  are  all  matters  of  vital  domestic  concern,  and 
besides  them,  outside  the  charmed  circle  of  our  own  na 
tional  life  in  which  our  affections  command  us,  as  well  as  5 
our  consciences,  there  stand  out  our  obligations  toward  our 
territories  over  sea.  Here  we  are  trustees.  Porto  Rico, 
Hawaii,  the  Philippines,  are  ours,  indeed,  but  not  ours  to 
do  what  we  please  with.  Such  territories,  once  regarded  as 
mere  possessions,  are  no  longer  to  be  selfishly  exploited;  10 
they  are  part  of  the  domain  of  public  conscience  and  of 
serviceable  and  enlightened  statesmanship.  We  must  ad 
minister  them  for  the  people  who  live  in  them  and  with 
the  same  sense  of  responsibility  to  them  as  toward  our 
own  people  in  our  domestic  affairs.  No  doubt  we  shall  15 
successfully  enough  bind  Porto  Rico  and  the  Hawaiian 
Islands  to  ourselves  by  ties  of  justice  and  interest  and 
affection,  but  the  performance  of  our  duty  toward  the 
Philippines  is  a  more  difficult  and  debatable  matter.  We 
can  satisfy  the  obligations  of  generous  justice  toward  the  20 
people  of  Porto  Rico  by  giving  them  the  ample  and 
familiar  rights  and  privileges  accorded  our  own  citizens  in 
our  own  territories  and  our  obligations  toward  the  people 
of  Hawaii  by  perfecting  the  provisions  for  self-government 
already  granted  them,  but  in  the  Philippines  we  must  go  25 
further.  We  must  hold  steadily  in  view  their  ultimate 
independence,  and  we  must  move  toward  the  time  of  that 
independence  as  steadily  as  the  way  can  be  cleared  and  the 
foundations  thoughtfully  and  permanently  laid. 

Acting  under  the  authority  conferred  upon  the  Presi-  30 
dent  by  Congress,  I  have  already  accorded  the  people  of 
the  islands  a  majority  in  both  houses  of  their  legislative 
body  by  appointing  five  instead  of  four  native  citizens 
to  the  membership  of  the  commission.    I  believe  that  in 


50  Woodrow  Wilson 

this  way  we  shall  make  proof  of  their  capacity  in  counsel 
and  their  sense  of  responsibility  in  the  exercise  of  political 
power,  and  that  the  success  of  this  step  will  be  sure  to 
clear  our  view  for  the  steps  which  are  to  follow.  Step  by 
5  step  we  should  extend  and  perfect  the  system  of  self- 
government  in  the  islands,  making  test  of  them  and  modify 
ing  them  as  experience  discloses  their  successes  and  their 
failures;  that  we  should  more  and  more  put  under  the 
control  of  the  native  citizens  of  the  archipelago  the  essen- 

10  tial  instruments  of  their  life,  their  local  instrumentalities 
of  government,  their  schools,  all  the  common  interests 
of  their  communities,  and  so  by  counsel  and  experience 
set  up  a  government  which  all  the  world  will  see  to  be 
suitable  to  a  people  whose  affairs  are  under  their  own 

15  control.  At  last,  I  hope  and  believe,  we  are  beginning  to 
gain  the  confidence  of  the  Filipino  peoples.  By  their 
counsel  and  experience,  rather  than  by  our  own,  we  shall 
learn  how  best  to  serve  them  and  how  soon  it  will  be 
possible  and  wise  to  withdraw  our  supervision.  Let  us 

20  once  find  the  path  and  set  out  with  firm  and  confident 
tread  upon  it  and  we  shall  not  wander  from  it  or  linger 
upon  it. 

A  duty  faces  us  with  regard  to  Alaska  which  seems  to 
me  very  pressing  and  very  imperative;  perhaps  I  should 

25  say  a  double  duty,  for  it  concerns  both  the  political  and 
the  material  development  of  the  Territory.  The  people 
of  Alaska  should  be  given  the  full  Territorial  form  of 
government,  and  Alaska,  as  a  storehouse,  should  be  un 
locked,  One  key  to  it  is  a  system  of  railways.  These  the 

30  Government  should  itself  build  and  administer,  and  the 
ports  and  terminals  it  should  itself  control  in  the  interest 
of  all  who  wish  to  use  them  for  the  service  and  develop 
ment  of  the  country  and  its  people. 
But  the  construction  of  railways  is  only  the  first  step; 


The  State  of  the  Union  51 

is  only  thrusting  in  the  key  to  the  storehouse  and  throwing 
back  the  lock  and  opening  the  door.  How  the  tempting 
resources  of  the  country  are  to  be  exploited  is  another 
matter,  to  which  I  shall  take  the  liberty  of  from  time  to 
time  calling  your  attention,  for  it  is  a  policy  which  must  5 
be  worked  out  by  well-considered  stages,  not  upon  theory, 
but  upon  lines  of  practical  expediency.  It  is  part  of  our 
general  problem  of  conservation.  We  have  a  freer  hand 
in  working  out  the  problem  in  Alaska  than  in  the  States 
of  the  Union;  and  yet  the  principle  and  object  are  the  10 
same,  wherever  we  touch  it.  We  must  use  the  resources 
of  the  country,  not  lock  them  up.  There  need  be  no  con 
flict  or  jealousy  as  between  State  and  Federal  authorities, 
for  there  can  be  no  essential  difference  of  purpose  between 
them.  The  resources  in  question  must  be  used,  but  not  15 
destroyed  or  wasted;  used,  but  not  monopolized  upon 
any  narrow  idea  of  individual  rights  as  against  the  abiding 
interests  of  communities.  That  a  policy  can  be  worked 
out  by  conference  and  concession  which  will  release  these 
resources  and  yet  not  jeopard  or  dissipate  them,  I  for  20 
one  have  no  doubt;  and  it  can  be  done  on  lines  of  regula 
tion  which  need  be  no  less  acceptable  to  the  people  and 
governments  of  the  States  concerned  than  to  the  people 
and  Government  of  the  Nation  at  large,  whose  heritage 
these  resources  are.  We  must  bend  our  counsels  to  this  25 
end.  A  common  purpose  ought  to  make  agreement  easy. 

Three  or  four  matters  of  special  importance  and  sig 
nificance  I  beg  that  you  will  permit  me  to  mention  in 
closing. 

Our  Bureau  of  Mines  ought  to  be  equipped  and  em-  30 
powered  to  render  even  more  effectual  service  than  it 
renders  now  in  improving  the  conditions  of  mine  labor 
and  making  the  mines  more  economically  productive  as 
well  as  more  safe.    This  is  an  all-important  part  of  the 


52  Woodrow  Wilson 

work  of  conservation;  and  the  conservation  of  human 
life  and  energy  lies  even  nearer  to  our  interest  than  the 
preservation  from  waste  of  our  material  resources. 

We  owe  it,  in  mere  justice  to  the  railway  employees  of 
5  the  country,  to  provide  for  them  a  fair  and  effective  em 
ployers'  liability  act;  and  a  law  that  we  can  stand  by  in 
this  matter  will  be  no  less  to  the  advantage  of  those  who 
administer  the  railroads  of  the  country  than  to  the  ad 
vantage  of  those  whom  they  employ.  The  experience  of  a 

10  large  number  of  the  States  abundantly  proves  that. 

We  ought  to  devote  ourselves  to  meeting  pressing  de 
mands  of  plain  justice  like  this  as  earnestly  as  to  the  ac 
complishment  of  political  and  economic  reforms.  Social 
justice  comes  first.  Law  is  the  machinery  for  its  realiza- 

15  tion  and  is  vital  only  as  it  expresses  and  embodies  it. 

An  international  congress  for  the  discussion  of  all 
questions  that  affect  safety  at  sea  is  now  sitting  in  London 
at  the  suggestion  of  our  own  Government.  So  soon  as 
the  conclusions  of  that  congress  can  be  learned  and  con- 

20  sidered  we  ought  to  address  ourselves,  among  other  things, 
to  the  prompt  alleviation  of  the  very  unsafe,  unjust,  and 
burdensome  conditions  which  now  surround  the  employ 
ment  of  sailors  and  render  it  extremely  difficult  to  obtain 
the  services  of  spirited  and  competent  men  such  as  every 

25  ship  needs  if  it  is  to  be  safely  handled  and  brought  to  port. 
May  I  not  express  the  very  real  pleasure  I  have  ex 
perienced  in  cooperating  with  this  Congress  and  sharing 
with  it  the  labors  of  common  service  to  which  it  has  de 
voted  itself  so  unreservedly  during  the  past  seven  months 

30  of  uncomplaining  concentration  upon  the  business  of 
legislation?  Surely  it  is  a  proper  and  pertinent  part  of 
my  report  on  "the  state  of  the  Union"  to  express  my 
admiration  for  the  diligence,  the  good  temper,  and  the 
full  comprehension  of  public  duty  which  has  already  been 


The  State  of  the  Union  53 

manifested  by  both  the  Houses;  and  I  hope  that  it  may 
not  be  deemed  an  impertinent  intrusion  of  myself  into 
the  picture  if  I  say  with  how  much  and  how  constant 
satisfaction  I  have  availed  myself  of  the  privilege  of  put 
ting  my  time  and  energy  at  their  disposal  alike  in  counsel 
and  in  action. 


TRUSTS  AND  MONOPOLIES 

[Address  delivered  at  a  joint  session  of  the  two  Houses  of  Congress, 
January  20,  1914.] 

GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  CONGRESS: 

In  my  report  "on  the  state  of  the  Union,"  which  I  had 
the  privilege  of  reading  to  you  on  the  2d  of  December 
last,  I  ventured  to  reserve  for  discussion  at  a  later  date 

5  the  subject  of  additional  legislation  regarding  the  very 
difficult  and  intricate  matter  of  trusts  and  monopolies. 
The  time  now  seems  opportune  to  turn  to  that  great 
question ;  not  only  because  the  currency  legislation,  which 
absorbed  your  attention  and  the  attention  of  the  country 

10  in  December,  is  now  disposed  of,  but  also  because  opinion 
seems  to  be  clearing  about  us  with  singular  rapidity  in 
this  other  great  field  of  action.  In  the  matter  of  the  cur 
rency  it  cleared  suddenly  and  very  happily  after  the 
much-debated  Act  was  passed;  in  respect  of  the  monopo- 

15  lies  which  have  multiplied  about  us  and  in  regard  to  the 
various  means  by  which  they  have  been  organized  and 
maintained  it  seems  to  be  coming  to  a  clear  and  all  but 
universal  agreement  in  anticipation  of  our  action,  as  if 
by  way  of  preparation,  making  the  way  easier  to  see  and 

20  easier  to  set  out  upon  with  confidence  and  without  con 
fusion  of  counsel. 

Legislation  has  its  atmosphere  like  everything  else, 
and  the  atmosphere  of  accommodation  and  mutual  under 
standing  which  we  now  breathe  with  so  much  refresh- 

25  ment  is  matter  of  sincere  congratulation.  It  ought  to 
make  our  task  very  much  less  difficult  and  embarrassing 
than  it  would  have  been  had  we  been  obliged  to  continue 

54 


Trusts  and  Monopolies  55 

to  act  amidst  the  atmosphere  of  suspicion  and  antagonism 
which  has  so  long  made  it  impossible  to  approach  such 
questions  with  dispassionate  fairness.  Constructive  legis 
lation,  when  successful,  is  always  the  embodiment  of 
convincing  experience,  and  of  the  mature  public  opinion  5 
which  finally  springs  out  of  that  experience.  Legislation 
is  a  business  of  interpretation,  not  of  origination;  and 
it  is  now  plain  what  the  opinion  is  to  which  we  must 
give  effect  in  this  matter.  It  is  not  recent  or  hasty  opinion. 
It  springs  out  of  the  experience  of  a  whole  generation.  10 
It  has  clarified  itself  by  long  contest,  and  those  who  for 
a  long  time  battled  with  it  and  sought  to  change  it  are 
now  frankly  and  honorably  yielding  to  it  and  seeking 
to  conform  their  actions  to  it. 

The  great  business  men  who  organized  and  financed  15 
monopoly  and  those  who  administered  it  in  actual  every 
day  transactions  have  year  after  year,  until  now,  either 
denied  its  existence  or  justified  it  as  necessary  for  the 
effective  maintenance  and  development  of  the  vast  busi 
ness  processes  of  the  country  in  the  modern  circumstances  20 
of  trade  and  manufacture  and  finance;  but  all  the  while 
opinion  has  made  head  against  them.    The  average  busi 
ness  man  is  convinced  that  the  ways  of  liberty  are  also 
the  ways  of  peace  and  the  ways  of  success  as  well;  and 
at  last  the  masters  of  business  on  the  great  scale  have  25 
begun  to  yield  their  preference  and  purpose,  perhaps  their 
judgment  also,  in  honorable  surrender. 

What  we  are  purposing  to  do,  therefore,  is,  happily, 
not  to  hamper  or  interfere  with  business  as  enlightened 
business  men  prefer  to  do  it,  or  in  any  sense  to  put  it  30 
under  the  ban.  The  antagonism  between  business  and 
government  is  over.  We  are  now  about  to  give  expres 
sion  to  the  best  business  judgment  of  America,  to  what 
we  know  to  be  the  business  conscience  and  honor  of  the 


56  Woodrow  Wilson 

land.  The  Government  and  business  men  are  ready  to 
meet  each  other  half-way  in  a  common  effort  to  square 
business  methods  with  both  public  opinion  and  the  law. 
The  best  informed  men  of  the  business  world  condemn 
5  the  methods  and  processes  and  consequences  of  monopoly 
as  we  condemn  them;  and  the  instinctive  judgment  of 
the  vast  majority  of  business  men  everywhere  goes  with 
them.  We  shall  now  be  their  spokesmen.  That  is  the 
strength  of  our  position  and  the  sure  prophecy  of  what 
10  will  ensue  when  our  reasonable  work  is  done. 

When  serious  contest  ends,  when  men  unite  in  opinion 
and  purpose,  those  who  are  to  change  their  ways  of  busi 
ness  joining  with  those  who  ask  for  the  change,  it  is  pos 
sible  to  effect  it  in  the  way  in  which  prudent  and  thought- 
is  ful  and  patriotic  men  would  wish  to  see  it  brought  about 
with  as  few,  as  slight,  as  easy  and  simple  business  read 
justments  as  possible  in  the  circumstances,  nothing  essen 
tial  disturbed,  nothing  torn  up  by  the  roots,  no  parts 
rent  asunder  which  can  be  left  in  wholesome  combina- 
20  tion.  Fortunately,  no  measures  of  sweeping  or  novel 
change  are  necessary.  It  will  be  understood  that  our 
object  is  not  to  unsettle  business  or  anywhere  seriously 
to  break  its  established  courses  athwart.  On  the  con 
trary,  we  desire  the  laws  we  are  now  about  to  pass  to  be 
£  the  bulwarks  and  safeguards  of  industry  against  the  forces 
that  have  disturbed  it.  What  we  have  to  do  can  be  done 
in  a  new  spirit,  in  thoughtful  moderation,  without  revolu 
tion  of  any  untoward  kind. 

We  are  all  agreed  that  "private  monopoly  is  inde- 
30  fensible  and  intolerable,"  an6T*o"ur  program  is  founded 
upon  that  conviction.  It  will  be  a  comprehensive  but 
not  a  radical  or  unacceptable  program  and  these  are 
its  items,  the  changes  which  opinion  deliberately  sanctions 
and  for  which  business  waits: 


Trusts  and  Monopolies  57 

It  waits  with  acquiescence,  in  the  first  place,  for  laws 
which  will  effectually  prohibit  and  prevent  such  inter- 
lockings  of  the  personnel  of  the  directorates  of  great  cor 
porations — banks  and  railroads,  industrial,  commercial, 
and  public  service  bodies — as  in  effect  result  in  making  5 
those  who  borrow  and  those  who  lend  practically  one  and 
the  same,  those  who  sell  and  those  who  buy  but  the  same 
persons  trading  with  one  another  under  different  names 
and  in  different  combinations,  and  those  who  affect  to 
compete  in  fact  partners  and  masters  of  some  whole  field  10 
of  business.  Sufficient  time  should  be  allowed,  of  course, 
in  which  to  effect  these  changes  of  organization  without 
inconvenience  or  confusion. 

Such  a  prohibition  will  work  much  more  than  a  mere 
negative  good  by  correcting  the  serious  evils  which  have  15 
arisen  because,  for  example,  the  men  who  have  been  the 
directing   spirits   of   the   great   investment   banks   have 
usurped  the  place  which  belongs  to  independent  industrial 
management  working  in  its  own  behoof.     It  will  bring 
new  men,  new  energies,  a  new  spirit  of  initiative,  new  -20 
blood,  into  the  management  of  our  great  business  enter 
prises.     It  will  open  the  field  of  industrial  development 
and  origination  to  scores  of  men  who  have  been  obliged 
to  serve  when  their  abilities  entitled  them  to  direct.     It 
will  immensely  hearten  the  young  men  coming  on  and  will  25 
greatly  enrich  the  business  activities  of  the  whole  country. 

In  the  second  place,  business  men  as  well  as  those  who 
direct  public  affairs  now  recognize,  and  recognize  with 
painful  clearness,  the  great  harm  and  injustice  which 
has  been  done  to  many,  if  not  all,  of  the  great  railroad  30 
systems  of  the  country  by  the  way  in  which  they  have 
been  financed  and  their  own  distinctive  interests  sub 
ordinated  to  the  interests  of  the  men  who  financed  them 
and  of  other  business  enterprises  which  those  men  wished 


58  Woodrow  Wilson 

to  promote.  The  country  is  ready,  therefore,  to  accept, 
and  accept  with  relief  as  well  as  approval,  a  law  which 
will  confer  upon  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission 
the  power  to  superintend  and  regulate  the  financial  opera- 
5  tions  by  which  the  railroads  are  henceforth  to  be  supplied 
with  the  money  they  need  for  their  proper  development 
to  meet  the  rapidly  growing  requirements  of  the  country 
for  increased  and  improved  facilities  of  transportation. 
We  cannot  postpone  action  in  this  matter  without  leaving 

10  the  railroads  exposed  to  many  serious  handicaps  and 
hazards;  and  the  prosperity  of  the  railroads  and  the  pros 
perity  of  the  country  are  inseparably  connected.  Upon 
this  question  those  who  are  chiefly  responsible  for  the 
actual  management  and  operation  of  the  railroads  have 

15  spoken  very  plainly  and  very  earnestly,  with  a  purpose  we 
ought  to  be  quick  to  accept.    It  will  be  one  step,  and  a  very 
important  one,  toward  the  necessary  separation  of  the  busi 
ness  of  production  from  the  business  of  transportation. 
The  business  of  the  country  awaits  also,  has  long  awaited 

20  and  has  suffered  because  it  could  not  obtain,  further  and 
more  explicit  legislative  definition  of  the  policy  and  mean 
ing  of  the  existing  antitrust  law.  Nothing  hampers  busi 
ness  like  uncertainty.  Nothing  daunts  or  discourages  it 
like  the  necessity  to  take  chances,  to  run  the  risk  of  falling 

25  under  the  condemnation  of  the  law  before  it  can  make 
sure  just  what  the  law  is.  Surely  we  are  sufficiently 
familiar  with  the  actual  processes  and  methods  of  monop 
oly  and  of  the  many  hurtful  restraints  of  trade  to  make 
definition  possible,  at  any  rate  up  to  the  limits  of  what 

30  experience  has  disclosed.  These  practices,  being  now 
abundantly  disclosed,  can  be  explicitly  and  item  by  item 
forbidden  by  statute  in  such  terms  as  will  practically 
eliminate  uncertainty,  the  law  itself  and  the  penalty  being 
made  equally  plain. 


Trusts  and  Monopolies  59 

And  the  business  men  of  the  country  desire  something 
more  than  that  the  menace  of  legal  process  in  these  mat 
ters  be  made  explicit  and  intelligible.  They  desire  the 
advice,  the  definite  guidance  and  information  which  can 
be  supplied  by  an  administrative  body,  an  interstate  5 
trade  commission. 

The  opinion  of  the  country  would  instantly  approve  of 
such  a  commission.  It  would  not  wish  to  see  it  empowered 
to  make  terms  with  monopoly  or  in  any  sort  to  assume 
control  of  business,  as  if  the  Government  made  itself  re-  10 
sponsible.  It  demands  such  a  commission  only  as  an  in 
dispensable  instrument  of  information  and  publicity,  as  a 
clearing  house  for  the  facts  by  which  both  the  public  mind 
and  the  managers  of  great  business  undertakings  should 
be  guided,  and  as  an  instrumentality  for  doing  justice  to  15 
business  where  the  processes  of  the  courts  or  the  natural 
forces  of  correction  outside  the  courts  are  inadequate  to 
adjust  the  remedy  to  the  wrong  in  a  way  that  will  meet  all 
the  equities  and  circumstances  of  the  case. 

Producing  industries,  for  example,  which  have  passed  20 
the  point  up  to  which  combination  may  be  consistent 
with  the  public  interest  and  the  freedom  of  trade,  can 
not  always  be  dissected  into  their  component  units  as 
readily  as  railroad  companies  or  similar  organizations  can 
be.    Their  dissolution  by  ordinary  legal  process  may  often-  25 
times  involve  financial  consequences  likely  to  overwhelm 
the  security  market  and  bring  upon  it  breakdown  and 
confusion.    There  ought  to  be  an  administrative  commis 
sion  capable   of   directing  and   shaping   such   corrective 
processes,  not  only  in  aid  of  the  courts  but  also  by  inde-  30 
pendent  suggestion,  if  necessary. 

Inasmuch  as  our  object  and  the  spirit  of  our  action  in 
these  matters  is  to  meet  business  half-way  in  its  processes 
of  self-correction  and  disturb  its  legitimate  course  as  little 


60  Woodrow  Wilson 

as  possible,  we  ought  to  see  to  it,  and  the  judgment  of 
practical  and  sagacious  men  of  affairs  everywhere  would 
applaud  us  if  we  did  see  to  it,  that  penalties  and  punish 
ments  should  fall,  not  upon  business  itself,  to  its  confusion 

5  and  interruption,  but  upon  the  individuals  who  use  the 
instrumentalities  of  business  to  do  things  which  public 
policy  and  sound  business  practice  condemn.  Every  act  of 
business  is  done  at  the  command  or  upon  the  initiative  of 
some  ascertainable  person  or  group  of  persons.  These 

10  should  be  held  individually  responsible  and  the  punish 
ment  should  fall  upon  them,  not  upon  the  business  organi 
zation  of  which  they  make  illegal  use.  It  should  be  one  of 
the  main  objects  of  our  legislation  to  divest  such  persons 
of  their  corporate  cloak  and  deal  with  them  as  with  those 

15  who  do  not  represent  their  corporations,  but  merely  by 
deliberate  intention  break  the  law.  Business  men  the 
country  through  would,  I  am  sure,  applaud  us  if  we  were  to 
take  effectual  steps  to  see  that  the  officers  and  directors  of 
great  business  bodies  were  prevented  from  bringing  them 

20  and  the  business  of  the  country  into  disrepute  and  danger. 
Other  questions  remain  which  will  need  very  thoughtful 
and  practical  treatment.  Enterprises,  in  these  modern 
days  of  great  individual  fortunes,  are  oftentimes  inter 
locked,  not  by  being  under  the  control  of  the  same  di- 

25  rectors,  but  by  the  fact  that  the  greater  part  of  their 
corporate  stock  is  owned  by  a  single  person  or  group  of 
persons  who  are  in  some  way  intimately  related  in  interest. 
We  are  agreed,  I  take  it,  that  holding  companies  should  be. 
prohibited,  but  what  of  the  controlling  private  ownership 

30  of  individuals  or  actually  cooperative  groups  of  individ 
uals?  Shall  the  private  owners  of  capital  stock  be  suffered 
to  be  themselves  in  effect  holding  companies?  We  do  not 
wish,  I  suppose,  to  forbid  the  purchase  of  stocks  by  any 
person  who  pleases  to  buy  them  in  such  quantities  as  he  can 


Trusts  and  Monopolies  61 

afford,  or  in  any  way  arbitrarily  to  limit  the  sale  of  stocks 
to.  bona  fide  purchasers.  Shall  we  require  the  owners  of 
stock,  when  their  voting  power  in  several  companies  which 
ought  to  be  independent  of  one  another  would  constitute 
actual  control,  to  make  election  in  which  of  them  they  will  5 
exercise  their  right  to  vote?  This  question  I  venture  for 
your  consideration. 

There  is  another  matter  in  which  imperative  considera 
tions  of  justice  and  fair  play  suggest  thoughtful  remedial 
action.  Not  only  do  many  of  the  combinations  effected  or  10 
sought  to  be  effected  in  the  industrial  world  work  an  in 
justice  upon  the  public  in  general;  they  also  directly  and 
seriously  injure  the  individuals  who  are  put  out  of  business 
in  one  unfair  way  or  another  by  the  many  dislodging  and 
exterminating  forces  of  combination.  I  hope  that  we  shall  15 
agree  in  giving  private  individuals  who  claim  to  have  been 
injured  by  these  processes  the  right  to  found  their  suits  for 
redress  upon  the  facts  and  judgments  proved  and  entered 
in  suits  by  the  Government  where  the  Government  has 
upon  its  own  initiative  sued  the  combinations  complained  20 
of  and  won  its  suit,  and  that  the  statute  of  limitations  shall 
be  suffered  to  run  against  such  litigants  only  from  the 
date  of  the  conclusion  of  the  Government's  action.  It  is 
not  fair  that  the  private  litigant  should  be  obliged  to  set 
up  and  establish  again  the  facts  which  the  Government  has  25 
proved.  He  cannot  afford,  he  has  not  the  power,  to  make 
use  of  such  processes  of  inquiry  as  the  Government  has 
command  of.  Thus  shall  individual  justice  be  done  while 
the  processes  of  business  are  rectified  and  squared  with  the 
general  conscience.  30 

I  have  laid  the  case  before  you,  no  doubt  as  it  lies  in  your 
own  mind,  as  it  lies  in  the  thought  of  the  country.  What 
must  every  candid  man  say  of  the  suggestions  I  have  laid 
before  you,  of  the  plain  obligations  of  which  I  have  re- 


62  Woodrow  Wilson 

minded  you?  That  these  are  new  things  for  which  the 
country  is  not  prepared?  No;  but  that  they  are  old  things, 
now  familiar,  and  must  of  course  be  undertaken  if  we  are  to 
square  our  laws  with  the  thought  and  desire  of  the  country. 
5  Until  these  things  are  done,  conscientious  business  men 
the  country  over  will  be  unsatisfied.  They  are  in  these 
things  our  mentors  and  colleagues.  We  are  now  about  to 
write  the  additional  articles  of  our  constitution  of  peace, 
the  peace  that  is  honor  and  freedom  and  prosperity. 


PANAMA  CANAL  TOLLS 

[Address  delivered  at  a  joint  session  of  the  two  Houses  of  Congress, 
March  5,  1914.! 

GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  CONGRESS: 

I  have  come  to  you  upon  an  errand  which  can  be  very 
briefly  performed,  but  I  beg  that  you  will  not  measure  its 
importance  by  the  number  of  sentences  in  which  I  state 
it.  No  communication  I  have  addressed  to  the  Congress  5 
carried  with  it  graver  or  more  far-reaching  implications  as 
to  the  interest  of  the  country,  and  I  come  now  to  speak 
upon  a  matter  with  regard  to  which  I  am  charged  in  a 
peculiar  degree,  by  the  Constitution  itself,  with  personal 
responsibility.  10 

I  have  come  to  ask  you  for  the  repeal  of  that  provision 
of  the  Panama  Canal  Act  of  August  24,  1912,  which  ex 
empts  vessels  engaged  in  the  coastwise  trade  of  the  United 
States  from  payment  of  tolls,  and  to  urge  upon  you  the 
justice,  the  wisdom,  and  the  large  policy  of  such  a  repeal  15 
with  the  utmost  earnestness  of  which  I  am  capable. 

In  my  own  judgment,  very  fully  considered  and  ma 
turely  formed,  that  exemption  constitutes  a  mistaken 
economic  policy  from  every  point  of  view,  and  is,  more 
over,  in  plain  contravention  of  the  treaty  with  Great  20 
Britain  concerning  the  canal  concluded  on  November  18, 
1901.  But  I  have  not  come  to  urge  upon  you  my  personal 
views,  I  have  come  to  state  to  you  a  fact  and  a  situation. 
Whatever  may  be  our  own  differences  of  opinion  concern 
ing  this  much  debated  measure,  its  meaning  is  not  debated  25 
outside  the  United  States.  Everywhere  else  the  language 
of  the  treaty  is  given  but  one  interpretation,  and  that 

63 


64  Wood  row  Wilson 

interpretation  precludes  the  exemption  I  am  asking  you  to 
repeal.  We  consented  to  the  treaty;  its  language  we  ac 
cepted,  if  we  did  not  originate  it;  and  we  are  too  big,  too 
powerful,  too  self-respecting  a  nation  to  interpret  with  a 
5  too  strained  or  refined  reading  the  words  of  our  own 
promises  just  because  we  have  power  enough  to  give  us 
leave  to  read  them  as  we  please.  The  large  thing  to  do  is 
the  only  thing  we  can  afford  to  do,  a  voluntary  with 
drawal  from  a  position  everywhere  questioned  and  mis- 

10  understood.  We  ought  to  reverse  our  action  without 
raising  the  question  whether  we  were  right  or  wrong,  and  so 
once  more  deserve  our  reputation  for  generosity  and  for 
the  redemption  of  every  obligation  without  quibble  or 
hesitation. 

15  I  ask  this  of  you  in  support  of  the  foreign  policy  of  the 
administration.  I  shall  not  know  how  to  deal  with  other 
matters  of  even  greater  delicacy  and  nearer  consequence  if 
you  do  not  grant  it  to  me  in  ungrudging  measure. 


THE  TAMPICO  INCIDENT 

[Address  delivered  at  a  joint  session  of  the  two  Houses  of  Congress, 
April  20,  1914.] 

GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  CONGRESS: 

It  is  my  duty  to  call  your  attention  to  a  situation  which 
has  arisen  in  our  dealings  with  General  Victoriano  Huerta 
at  Mexico  City  which  calls  for  action,  and  to  ask  your 
advice  and  cooperation  in  acting  upon  it.  On  the  gth  of  s 
April  a  paymaster  of  the  U.  S.  S.  Dolphin  landed  at  the 
Iturbide  Bridge  landing  at  Tampico  with  a  whaleboat  and 
boat's  crew  to  take  off  certain  supplies  needed  by  his  ship, 
and  while  engaged  in  loading  the  boat  was  arrested  by  an 
officer  and  squad  of  men  of  the  army  of  General  Huerta.  i0 
Neither  the  paymaster  nor  anyone  of  the  boat's  crew  was 
armed.  Two  of  the  men  were  in  the  boat  when  the  arrest 
took  place  and  were  obliged  to  leave  it  and  submit  to  be 
taken  into  custody,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the 
boat  carried,  both  at  her  bow  and  at  her  stern,  the  flag  of  15 
the  United  States.  The  officer  who  made  the  arrest  was 
proceeding  up  one  of  the  streets  of  the  town  with  his 
Drisoners  when  met  by  an  officer  of  higher  authority,  who 
ordered  him  to  return  to  the  landing  and  await  orders; 
and  within  an  hour  and  a  half  from  the  time  of  the  arrest  20 
orders  were  received  from  the  commander  of  the  Huertista 
forces  at  Tampico  for  the  release  of  the  paymaster  and  his 
men.  The  release  was  followed  by  apologies  from  the 
commander  and  later  by  an  expression  of  regret  by  General 
Huerta  himself.  General  Huerta  urged  that  martial  law  25 
obtained  at  the  time  at  Tampico;  that  orders  had  been 
issued  that  no  one  should  be  allowed  to  land  at  the  Itur- 

65 


66  Woodrow  Wilson 

bide  Bridge;  and  that  our  sailors  had  no  right  to  land  there. 
Our  naval  commanders  at  the  port  had  not  been  notified 
of  any  such  prohibition;  and,  even  if  they  had  been,  the 
only  justifiable  course  open  to  the  local  authorities  would 
5  have  been  to  request  the  paymaster  and  his  crew  to  with 
draw  and  to  lodge  a  protest  with  the  commanding  officer 
of  the  fleet.  Admiral  Mayo  regarded  the  arrest  as  so 
serious  an  affront  that  he  was  not  satisfied  with  the 
apologies  offered,  but  demanded  that  the  flag  of  the  United 

10  States  be  saluted  with  special  ceremony  by  the  military 
commander  of  the  port. 

The  incident  cannot  be  regarded  as  a  trivial  one,  espe 
cially  as  two  of  the  men  arrested  were  taken  from  the  boat 
itself — that  is  to  say,  from  the  territory  of  the  United 

15  States — but  had  it  stood  by  itself  it  might  have  been 
attributed  to  the  ignorance  or  arrogance  of  a  single  officer. 
Unfortunately,  it  was  not  an  isolated  case.  A  series  of 
incidents  have  recently  occurred  which  cannot  but  create 
the  impression  that  the  representatives  of  General  Huerta 

20  were  willing  to  go  out  of  their  way  to  show  disregard  for  the 
dignity  and  rights  of  this  Government  and  felt  perfectly 
safe  in  doing  what  they  pleased,  making  free  to  show  in 
many  ways  their  irritation  and  contempt.  A  few  days  after 
the  incident  at  Tampico  an  orderly  from  the  U.  S.  S. 

25  Minnesota  was  arrested  at  Vera  Cruz  while  ashore  in 
uniform  to  obtain  the  ship's  mail,  and  was  for  a  time 
thrown  into  jail.  An  official  dispatch  from  this  Govern 
ment  to  its  embassy  at  Mexico  City  was  withheld  by  the 
authorities  of  the  telegraphic  service  until  peremptorily 

30  demanded  by  our  charge  d'affaires  in  person.  So  far  as 
I  can  learn,  such  wrongs  and  annoyances  have  been  suffered 
to  occur  only  against  representatives  of  the  United  States. 
I  have  heard  of  no  complaints  from  other  Governments  of 
similar  treatment.  Subsequent  explanations  and  formal 


The  Tampico  Incident  67 

apologies  did  not  and  could  not  alter  the  popular  impres 
sion,  which  it  is  possible  it  had  been  the  object  of  the 
Huertista  authorities  to  create,  that  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  was  being  singled  out,  and  might  be 
singled  out  with  impunity,  for  slights  and  affronts  in  5 
retaliation  for  its  refusal  to  recognize  the  pretensions  of 
General  Huerta  to  be  regarded  as  the  constitutional 
provisional  President  of  the  Republic  of  Mexico. 

The  manifest  danger  of  such  a  situation  was  that  such 
offenses  might  grow  from  bad  to  worse  until  something  10 
happened  of  so  gross  and  intolerable  a  sort  as  to  lead  di 
rectly  and  inevitably  to  armed  conflict.    It  was  necessary 
that  the  apologies  of  General  Huerta  and  his  representa 
tives  should  go  much  further,  that  they  should  be  such 
as  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  whole  population  to  their  15 
significance,  and  such  as  to  impress  upon  General  Huerta 
himself  the  necessity  of  seeing  to  it  that  no  further  occasion 
for  explanations  and  professed  regrets  should  arise.    I, 
therefore,  felt  it  my  duty  to  sustain  Admiral  Mayo  in  the 
whole  of  his  demand  and  to  insist  that  the  flag  of  the  20 
United  States  should  be  saluted  in  such  a  way  as  to 
indicate  a  new  spirit  and  attitude  on  the  part  of  the 
Huertistas. 

Such  a  salute  General  Huerta  has  refused,  and  I  have 
come  to  ask  your  approval  and  support  in  the  course  I  now  25 
purpose  to  pursue. 

This  Government  can,  I  earnestly  hope,  in  no  circum 
stances  be  forced  into  war  with  the  people  of  Mexico. 
Mexico  is  torn  by  civil  strife.  If  we  are  to  accept  the 
tests  of  its  own  constitution,  it  has  no  government.  Gen-  30 
eral  Huerta  has  set  his  power  up  in  the  City  of  Mexico, 
such  as  it  is,  without  right  and  by  methods  for  which  there 
can  be  no  justification.  Only  part  of  the  country  is  under 
his  control.  If  armed  conflict  should  unhappily  come  as  a 


68  Woodrow  Wilson 

result  of  his  attitude  of  personal  resentment  toward  this 
Government,  we  should  be  fighting  only  General  Huerta 
and  those  who  adhere  to  him  and  give  him  their  support, 
and  our  object  would  be  only  to  restore  to  the  people  of 
5  the  distracted  Republic  the  opportunity  to  set  up  again 
their  own  laws  and  their  own  government. 

But  I  earnestly  hope  that  war  is  not  now  in  question. 
I  believe  that  I  speak  for  the  American  people  when  I  say 
that  we  do  not  desire  to  control  in  any  degree  the  affairs  of 

10  our  sister  Republic.  Our  feeling  for  the  people  of  Mexico 
is  one  of  deep  and  genuine  friendship,  and  everything  that 
we  have  so  far  done  or  refrained  from  doing  has  proceeded 
from  our  desire  to  help  them,  not  to  hinder  or  embarrass 
them.  We  would  not  wish  even  to  exercise  the  good  offices 

15  of  friendship  without  their  welcome  and  consent.  The 
people  of  Mexico  are  entitled  to  settle  their  own  domestic 
affairs  in  their  own  way,  and  we  sincerely  desire  to  respect 
their  right.  The  present  situation  need  have  none  of  the 
grave  implications  of  interference  if  we  deal  with  it 

20  promptly,  firmly,  and  wisely. 

No  doubt  I  could  do  what  is  necessary  in  the  circum 
stances  to  enforce  respect  for  our  Government  without  re 
course  to  the  Congress,  and  yet  not  exceed  my  constitu 
tional  powers  as  President;  but  I  do  not  wish  to  act  in  a 

25  matter  possibly  of  so  grave  consequence  except  in  close 
conference  and  cooperation  with  both  the  Senate  and 
House.  I,  therefore,  come  to  ask  your  approval  that  I 
should  use  the  armed  forces  of  the  United  States  in  such 
ways  and  to  such  an  extent  as  may  be  necessary  to  obtain 

30  from  General  Huerta  and  his  adherents  the  fullest  recogni 
tion  of  the  rights  and  dignity  of  the  United  States,  even 
amidst  the  distressing  conditions  now  unhappily  obtaining 
in  Mexico. 
There  can  in  what  we  do  be  no  thought  of  aggression  or 


The  Tampico  Incident  69 

of  selfish  aggrandizement.  We  seek  to  maintain  the 
dignity  and  authority  of  the  United  States  only  because  we 
wish  always  to  keep  our  great  influence  unimpaired  for  the 
uses  of  liberty,  both  in  the  United  States  and  wherever  else 
it  may  be  employed  for  the  benefit  of  mankind. 


IN  THE  FIRMAMENT  OF  MEMORY 

[Address  at  the  Services  in  Memory  of  those  who  lost  their  lives 
at  Vera  Cruz,  Mexico,  delivered  at  the  Brooklyn  Navy  Yard,  May  1 1, 
1914.  The  roster,  of  fifteen  sailors  and  four  marines,  was  presented 
by  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  Mr.  Daniels.] 

MR.  SECRETARY: 

I  know  that  the  feelings  which  characterize  all  who 
stand  about  me  and  the  whole  Nation  at  this  hour  are 
not  feelings  which  can  be  suitably  expressed  in  terms  of 

5  attempted  oratory  or  eloquence.  They  are  things  too 
deep  for  ordinary  speech.  For  my  own  part,  I  have  a 
singular  mixture  of  feelings.  The  feeling  that  is  upper 
most  is  one  of  profound  grief  that  these  lads  should  have 
had  to  go  to  their  death;  and  yet  there  is  mixed  with  that 

10  grief  a  profound  pride  that  they  should  have  gone  as 
they  did,  and,  if  I  may  say  it  out  of  my  heart,  a  touch  of 
envy  of  those  who  were  permitted  so  quietly,  so  nobly, 
to  do  their  duty.  Have  you  thought  of  it,  men?  Here 
is  the  roster  of  the  Navy — the  list  of  the  men,  officers  and 

15  enlisted  men  and  marines — and  suddenly  there  swim 
nineteen  stars  out  of  the  list — men  who  have  suddenly 
been  lifted  into  a  firmament  of  memory  where  we  shall 
always  see  their  names  shine,  not  because  they  called 
upon  us  to  admire  them,  but  because  they  served  us, 

20  without  asking  any  questions  and  in  the  performance  of  a 
duty  which  is  laid  upon  us  as  well  as  upon  them. 

Duty  is  not  an  uncommon  thing,  gentlemen.  Men  are 
performing  it  in  the  ordinary  walks  of  life  all  around  us 
all  the  time,  and  they  are  making  great  sacrifices  to  per- 

25  form  it.    What  gives  men  like  these  peculiar  distinction 
is  not  merely  that  they  did  their  duty,  but  that  their  duty 
70 


In  the  Firmament  of  Memory  71 

had  nothing  to  do  with  them  or  their  own  personal  and 
peculiar  interests.  They  did  not  give  their  lives  for  them 
selves.  They  gave  their  lives  for  us,  because  we  called 
upon  them  as  a  Nation  to  perform  an  unexpected  duty. 
That  is  the  way  in  which  men  grow  distinguished,  and  $ 
that  is  the  only  way,  by  serving  somebody  else  than  them 
selves.  And  what  greater  thing  could  you  serve  than  a 
Nation  such  as  this  we  love  and  are  proud  of?  Are  you 
sorry  for  these  lads?  Are  you  sorry  for  the  way  they  will 
be  remembered?  Does  it  not  quicken  your  pulses  to  10 
think  of  the  list  of  them?  I  hope  to  God  none  of  you 
may  join  the  list,  but  if  you  do  you  will  join  an  immortal 
company. 

So,  while  we  are  profoundly  sorrowful,  and  while  there 
goes  out  of  our  hearts  a  very  deep  and  affectionate  sym-  15 
pathy  for  the  friends  and  relatives  of  these  lads  who  for 
the  rest  of  their  lives  shall  mourn  them,  though  with  a 
touch  of  pride,  we  know  why  we  do  not  go  away  from  this 
occasion  cast  down,  but  with  our  heads  lifted  and  our 
eyes  on  the  future  of  this  country,  with  absolute  confi-  20 
dence  of  how  it  will  be  worked  out.  Not  only  upon  the 
mere  vague  future  of  this  country,  but  upon  the  immediate 
future.  We  have  gone  down  to  Mexico  to  serve  mankind 
if  we  can  find  out  the  way.  We  do  not  want  to  fight  the 
Mexicans.  We  want  to  serve  the  Mexicans  if  we  can,  25 
because  we  know  how  we  would  like  to  be  free,  and  how 
we  would  like  to  be  served  if  there  were  friends  standing 
by  in  such  case  ready  to  serve  us.  A  war  of  aggression 
is  not  a  war  in  which  it  is  a  proud  thing  to  die,  but  a  war 
of  service  is  a  thing  in  which  it  is  a  proud  thing  to  die.  30 

Notice  how  truly  these  men  were  of  our  blood.  I  mean 
of  our  American  blood,  which  is  not  drawn  from  any  one 
country,  which  is  not  drawn  from  any  one  stock,  which 
is  not  drawn  from  any  one  language  of  the  modern  world; 


72  Woodrow  Wilson 

but  free  men  everywhere  have  sent  their  sons  and  their 
brothers  and  their  daughters  to  this  country  in  order  to 
make  that  great  compounded  Nation  which  consists  of 
all  the  sturdy  elements  and  of  all  the  best  elements  of 

5  the  whole  globe.  I  listened  again  to  this  list  of  the  dead 
with  a  profound  interest  because  of  the  mixture  of  the 
names,  for  the  names  bear  the  marks  of  the  several  na 
tional  stocks  from  which  these  men  came.  But  they  are 
not  Irishmen  or  Germans  or  Frenchmen  or  Hebrews  or 

10  Italians  any  more.  They  were  not  when  they  went  to  Vera 
Cruz;  they  were  Americans,  every  one  of  them,  and  with 
no  difference  in  their  Americanism  because  of  the  stock 
from  which  they  came.  They  were  in  a  peculiar  sense 
of  our  blood,  and  they  proved  it  by  showing  that  they 

15  were  of  our  spirit — that  no  matter  what  their  derivation, 
no  matter  where  their  people  came  from,  they  thought 
and  wished  and  did  the  things  that  were  American;  and 
the  flag  under  which  they  served  was  a  flag  in  which  all 
the  blood  of  mankind  is  united  to  make  a  free  Nation. 

20  War,  gentlemen,  is  only  a  sort  of  dramatic  representa 
tion,  a  sort  of  dramatic  symbol,  of  a  thousand  forms  of 
duty.  I  never  went  into  battle;  I  never  was  under  fire; 
but  I  fancy  that  there  are  some  things  just  as  hard  to  do 
as  to  go  under  fire.  I  fancy  that  it  is  just  as  hard  to  do 

25  your  duty  when  men  are  sneering  at  you  as  when  they 
are  shooting  at  you.  When  they  shoot  at  you,  they  can 
only  take  your  natural  life;  when  they  sneer  at  you,  they 
can  wound  your  living  heart,  and  men  who  are  brave 
enough,  steadfast  enough,  steady  in  their  principles 

30  enough,  to  go  about  their  duty  with  regard  to  their  fellow- 
men,  no  matter  whether  there  are  hisses  or  cheers,  men 
who  can  do  what  Rudyard  Kipling  in  one  of  his  poems 
wrote,  "Meet  with  triumph  and  disaster  and  treat  those 
two  impostors  just  the  same,"  are  men  for  a  nation  to  be 


In  the  Firmament  of  Memory  73 

proud  of.  Morally  speaking,  disaster  and  triumph  are 
impostors.  The  cheers  of  the  moment  are  not  what  a 
man  ought  to  think  about,  but  the  verdict  of  his  con 
science  and  of  the  consciences  of  mankind. 

When  I  look  at  you,  I  feel  as  if  I  also  and  we  all  were    5 
enlisted  men.     Not  enlisted  in  your  particular  branch 
of  the  service,  but  enlisted  to  serve  the  country,  no  matter 
what  may  come,  even  though  we  may  sacrifice  our  lives 
in  the  arduous  endeavor.     We  are  expected  to  put  the 
utmost  energy  of  every  power  that  we  have  into  the  serv-  10 
ice  of  our  fellow-men,  never  sparing  ourselves,  not  con 
descending  to  think  of  wrhat  is  going  to  happen  to  our 
selves,  but  ready,  if  need  be,  to  go  to  the  utter  length 
of  complete  self-sacrifice. 

As  I  stand  and  look  at  you  to-day  and  think  of  these  15 
spirits  that  have  gone  from  us,  I  know  that  the  road  is 
clearer  for  the  future.     These  boys  have  shown  us  the 
way,  and  it  is  easier  to  walk  on  it  because  they  have  gone 
before  and  shown  us  how.     May  God  grant  to  all  of  us 
that  vision  of  patriotic  service  which  here  in  solemnity  20 
and  grief  and  pride  is  borne  in  upon  our  hearts  and  con 
sciences! 


MEMORIAL  DAY  ADDRESS 

[Delivered  at  the  National  Cemetery,  Arlington,  Va.,  May  30, 
1914.] 

LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN:  , 

I  have  not  come  here  to-day  with  a  prepared  address. 
The  committee  in  charge  of  the  exercises  of  the  day  have 
graciously  excused  me  on  the  grounds  of  public  obligations 
5  from  preparing  such  an  address,  but  I  will  not  deny  myself 
the  privilege  of  joining  with  you  in  an  expression  of 
gratitude  and  admiration  for  the  men  who  perished  for  the 
sake  of  the  Union.  They  do  not  need  our  praise.  They  do 
not  need  that  our  admiration  should  sustain  them.  There 

10  is  no  immortality  that  is  safer  than  theirs.    We  come  not 
for  their  sakes  but  for  our  own,  in  order  that  we  may  drink 
at  the  same  springs  of  inspiration  from  which  they  them 
selves  drank. 
A  peculiar  privilege  came  to  the  men  who  fought  for  the 

15  Union.  There  is  no  other  civil  war  in  history,  ladies  and 
gentlemen,  the  stings  of  which  were  removed  before  the 
men  who  did  the  fighting  passed  from  the  stage  of  life. 
So  that  we  owe  these  men  something  more  than  a  legal 
reestablishment  of  the  Union.  We  owe  them  the  spiritual 

20  reestablishment  of  the  Union  as  well;  for  they  not  only  re 
united  States,  they  reunited  the  spirits  of  men.  That  is 
their  unique  achievement,  unexampled  anywhere  else  in 
the  annals  of  mankind,  that  the  very  men  whom  they 
overcame  in  battle  join  in  praise  and  gratitude  that  the 

25  Union  was  saved.  There  is  something  peculiarly  beautiful 
and  peculiarly  touching  about  that.  Whenever  a  man  who 
is  still  trying  to  devote  himself  to  the  service  of  the  Nation 

74 


Memorial  Day  at  Arlington  75 

comes  into  a  presence  like  this,  or  into  a  place  like  this,  his 
spirit  must  be  peculiarly  moved.    A  mandate  is  laid  upon 
him  which  seems  to  speak  from  the  very  graves  themselves. 
Those  who  serve  this  Nation,  whether  in  peace  or  in  war, 
should  serve  it  without  thought  of  themselves.    I  can  never   .5 
speak  in  praise  of  war,  ladies  and  gentlemen;  you  would .   - 
not  desire  me  to  do  so.    But  there  is  this  peculiar  distinc 
tion  belonging  to  the  soldier,  that  he  goes  into  an  enterprise 
out  of  which  he  himself  cannot  get  anything  at  all.    He  is 
giving  everything  that  he  hath,  even  his  life,  in  order  that  10 
others  may  live,  not  in  order  that  he  himself  may  obtain 
gain  and  prosperity.     And  just  so  soon  as  the  tasks  of 
peace  are  performed  in  the  same  spirit  of  self-sacrifice  and 
devotion,  peace  societies  will  not  be  necessary.    The  very 
organization  and  spirit  of  society  will  be  a  guaranty  of  peace.  1 5 

Therefore  this  peculiar  thing  comes  about,  that  we  can 
stand  here  and  praise  the  memory  of  these  soldiers  in 
the  interest  of  peace.  They  set  us  the  example  of  self- 
sacrifice,  which  if  followed  in  peace  will  make  it  unneces 
sary  that  men  should  follow  war  any  more.  20 

We  are  reputed  to  be  somewhat  careless  in  our  dis 
crimination  between  words  in  the  use  of  the  English 
language,  and  yet  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  there  are 
some  words  about  which  we  are  very  careful.  We  bestow 
the  adjective  " great"  somewhat  indiscriminately.  A  25 
man  who  has  made  conquest  of  his  fellow-men  for  his  own 
gain  may  display  such  genius  in  war,  such  uncommon 
qualities  of  organization  and  leadership  that  we  may  call 
him  "great,"  but  there  is  a  word  which  we  reserve  for  men 
of  another  kind  and  about  which  we  are  very  careful;  that  30 
is  the  word  "noble."  We  never  call  a  man  "noble"  who 
serves  only  himself;  and  if  you  will  look  about  through  all 
the  nations  of  the  world  upon  the  statues  that  men  have 
erected — upon  the  inscribed  tablets  where  they  have 


76  Wood  row  Wilson 

wished  to  keep  alive  the  memory  of  the  citizens  whom  they 
desire  most  to  honor — you  will  find  that  almost  without 
exception  they  have  erected  the  statue  to  those  who  had  a 
splendid  surplus  of  energy  and  devotion  to  spend  upon 
5  their  fellow-men.  Nobility  exists  in  America  without  pat 
ent.  We  have  no  House  of  Lords,  but  we  have  a  house 
of  fame  to  which  we  elevate  those  who  are  the  noble  men 
of  our  race,  who,  forgetful  of  themselves,  study  and  serve 
the  public  interest,  who  have  the  courage  to  face  any 

10  number  and  any  kind  of  adversary,  to  speak  what  in  their 
hearts  they  believe  to  be  the  truth. 

We  admire  physical  courage,  but  we  admire  above  all 
things  else  moral  courage.  I  believe  that  soldiers  will 
bear  me  out  in  saying  that  both  come  in  time  of  battle. 

15  I  take  it  that  the  moral  courage  comes  in  going  into  the 
battle,  and  the  physical  courage  in  staying  in.  There  are 
battles  which  are  just  as  hard  to  go  into  and  just  as  hard 
to  stay  in  as  the  battles  of  arms,  and  if  the  man  will  but 
stay  and  think  never  of  himself  there  will  come  a  time  of 

20  grateful  recollection  when  men  will  speak  of  him  not  only 
with  admiration  but  with  that  which  goes  deeper,  with 
affection  and  with  reverence. 

So  that  this  flag  calls  upon  us  daily  for  service,  and  the 
more  quiet  and  self-denying  the  service  the  greater  the 

25  glory  of  the  flag.  We  are  dedicated  to  freedom,  and  that 
freedom  means  the  freedom  of  the  human  spirit.  All  free 
spirits  ought  to  congregate  on  an  occasion  like  this  to  do 
homage  to  the  greatness  of  America  as  illustrated  by  the 
greatness  of  her  sons. 

30  It  has  been  a  privilege,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  to  come 
and  say  these  simple  words,  which  I  am  sure  are  merely 
putting  your  thought  into  language.  I  thank  you  for  the 
opportunity  to  lay  this  little  wreath  of  mine  upon  these 
consecrated  graves. 


CLOSING  A  CHAPTER 

[Address  in  which  President  Wilson  accepted  the  Monument  in 
Memory  of  the  Confederate  Dead,  at  Arlington  National  Cemetery, 
June  4,  1914.] 

MR.  CHAIRMAN,  MRS.  MCLAURIN  STEVENS,  LADIES  AND 

GENTLEMEN  : 

I  assure  you  that  I  am  profoundly  aware  of  the  solemn 
significance  of  the  thing  that  has  now  taken  place.    The 
Daughters  of  the  Confederacy  have  presented  a  memorial    5 
of  their  dead  to  the  Government  of  the  United  States.    I 
hope  that  you  have  noted  the  history  of  the  conception 
of  this  idea.    It  was  suggested  by  a  President  of  the  United 
States  who  had  himself  been  a  distinguished  officer  in  the 
Union  Army.     It  was  authorized  by  an  act  of  Congress  10 
of  the  United  States.    The  corner-stone  of  the  monument 
was  laid  by  a  President  of  the  United  States  elevated  to 
his  position  by  the  votes  of  the  party  which  had  chiefly 
prided  itself  upon  sustaining  the  war  for  the  Union,  and 
who,  while  Secretary  of  War,  had  himself  given  authority  15 
to  erect  it.    And,  now,  it  has  fallen  to  my  lot  to  accept 
in  the  name  of  the  great  Government,  which  I  am  priv 
ileged  for  the  time  to  represent,  this  emblem  of  a  reunited 
people.    I  am  not  so  much  happy  as  proud  to  participate 
in  this  capacity  on  such  an  occasion, — proud  that  I  should  20 
represent  such  a  people.     Am  I  mistaken,   ladies  and 
gentlemen,  in  supposing  that  nothing  of  this  sort  could 
have  occurred  in  anything  but  a  democracy?    The  people 
of  a  democracy  are  not  related  to  their  rulers  as  subjects 
are  related  to  a  government.     They  are  themselves  the  25 
sovereign  authority,  and  as  they  are  neighbors  of  each 

77 


78  Woodrow  Wilson 

other,  quickened  by  the  same  influences  and  moved  by 
the  same  motives,  they  can  understand  each  other.  They 
are  shot  through  with  some  of  the  deepest  and  profoundest 
instincts  of  human  sympathy.  They  choose  their  govern- 
5  ments;  they  select  their  rulers;  they  live  their  own  life, 
and  they  will  not  have  that  life  disturbed  and  discolored 
by  fraternal  misunderstandings.  I  know  that  a  reuniting 
of  spirits  like  this  can  take  place  more  quickly  in  our 
time  than  in  any  other  because  men  are  now  united  by 

10  an  easier  transmission  of  those  influences  which  make 
up  the  foundations  of  peace  and  of  mutual  understand 
ing,  but  no  process  can  work  these  effects  unless  there  is  a 
conducting  medium.  The  conducting  medium  in  this 
instance  is  the  united  heart  of  a  great  people.  I  am  not 

15  going  to  detain  you  by  trying  to  repeat  any  of  the  eloquent 
thoughts  which  have  moved  us  this  afternoon,  for  I  re 
joice  in  the  simplicity  of  the  task  which  is  assigned  to  me. 
My  privilege  is  this,  ladies  and  gentlemen:  To  declare 
this  chapter  in  the  history  of  the  United  States  closed 

20  and  ended,  and  I  bid  you  turn  with  me  with  your  faces 
to  the  future,  quickened  by  the  memories  of  the  past, 
but  with  nothing  to  do  with  the  contests  of  the  past, 
knowing,  as  we  have  shed  our  blood  upon  opposite  sides, 
we  now  face  and  admire  one  another.  I  do  not  know  how 

25  many  years  ago  it  was  that  the  Century  Dictionary  was 
published,  but  I  remember  one  day  in  the  Century  Cyclo 
pedia  of  Names  I  had  occasion  to  turn  to  the  name  of 
Robert  E.  Lee,  and  I  found  him  there  in  that  book  pub 
lished  in  New  York  City  simply  described  as  a  great 

30  American  general.  The  generosity  of  our  judgments  did 
not  begin  to-day.  The  generosity  of  our  judgment  was 
made  up  soon  after  this  great  struggle  was  over.  Men 
came  and  sat  together  again  in  the  Congress  and  united 
in  all  the  efforts  of  peace  and  of  government,  and  our 


Closing  a  Chapter  79 

solemn  duty  is  to  see  that  each  one  of  us  is  in  his  own 
consciousness  and  in  his  own  conduct  a  replica  of  this 
great  reunited  people.  It  is  our  duty  and  our  privilege 
to  be  like  the  country  we  represent  and,  speaking  no  word 
of  malice,  no  word  of  criticism  even,  stand  shoulder  to 
shoulder  to  lift  the  burdens  of  mankind  in  the  future  and 
show  the  paths  of  freedom  to  all  the  world. 


ANNAPOLIS  COMMENCEMENT  ADDRESS 

[Delivered  before  the  Graduating  Class  of  the  United  States  Naval 
Academy,  Annapolis,  Maryland,  June  5,  1914.] 

MR.  SUPERINTENDENT,  YOUNG  GENTLEMEN,  LADIES  AND 
GENTLEMEN  : 

During  the  greater  part  of  my  life  I  have  been  associated 
with  young  men,  and  on  occasions  it  seems  to  me  without 

5  number  have  faced  bodies  of  youngsters  going  out  to  take 
part  in  the  activities  of  the  world,  but  I  have  a  conscious 
ness  of  a  different  significance  in  this  occasion  from  that 
which  I  have  felt  on  other  similar  occasions.  When  I 
have  faced  the  graduating  classes  at  universities  I  have 

10  felt  that  I  was  facing  a  great  conjecture.  They  were 
going  out  into  all  sorts  of  pursuits  and  with  every  degree 
of  preparation  for  the  particular  thing  they  were  expecting 
to  do;  some  without  any  preparation  at  all,  for  they  did 
not  know  what  they  expected  to  do.  But  in  facing  you 

15  I  am  facing  men  who  are  trained  for  a  special  thing.  You 
know  what  you  are  going  to  do,  and  you  are  under  the 
eye  of  the  whole  Nation  in  doing  it.  For  you,  gentlemen, 
are  to  be  part  of  the  power  of  the  Government  of  the 
United  States.  There  is  a  very  deep  and  solemn  signifi- 

20  cance  in  that  fact,  and  I  am  sure  that  every  one  of  you 
feels  it.  The  moral  is  perfectly  obvious.  Be  ready  and 
fit  for  anything  that  you  have  to  do.  And  keep  ready 
and  fit.  Do  not  grow  slack.  Do  not  suppose  that  your 
education  is  over  because  you  have  received  your  diplomas 

25  from  the  academy.  Your  education  has  just  begun. 
Moreover,  you  are  to  have  a  very  peculiar  privilege  which 
not  many  of  your  predecessors  have  had.  You  are  your- 

80 


Annapolis  Commencement  81 

selves  going  to  become  teachers.  You  are  going  to  teach 
those  50,000  fellow-countrymen  of  yours  who  are  the  en 
listed  men  of  the  Navy.  You  are  going  to  make  them 
fitter  to  obey  your  orders  and  to  serve  the  country.  You 
are  going  to  make  them  fitter  to  see  what  the  orders  mean  5 
in  their  outlook  upon  life  and  upon  the  service;  and  that 
is  a  great  privilege,  for  out  of  you  is  going  the  energy  and 
intelligence  which  are  going  to  quicken  the  whole  body  of 
the  United  States  Navy. 

I  congratulate  you  upon  that  prospect,  but  I  want  to  i<5 
ask  you  not  to  get  the  professional  point  of  view.  I  would 
ask  it  of  you  if  you  were  lawyers;  I  would  ask  it  of  you  if 
you  were  merchants;  I  would  ask  it  of  you  whatever  you 
expected  to  be.  Do  not  get  the  professional  point  of  view. 
There  is  nothing  narrower  or  more  unserviceable  than 
the  professional  point  of  view,  to  have  the  attitude  toward 
life  that  it  centers  in  your  profession.  It  does  not.  Your 
profession  is  only  one  of  the  many  activities  which  are 
meant  to  keep  the  world  straight,  and  to  keep  the  energy 
in  its  blood  and  in  its  muscle.  We  are  all  of  us  in  this  20 
world,  as  I  understand  it,  to  set  forward  the  affairs  of  the 
whole  world,  though  we  play  a  special  part  in  that  great 
function.  The  Navy  goes  all  over  the  world,  and  I  think 
it  is  to  be  congratulated  upon  having  that  sort  of  illustra 
tion  of  what  the  world  is  and  what  it  contains;  and  inas-  25 
much  as  you  are  going  all  over  the  world  you  ought  to 
be  the  better  able  to  see  the  relation  that  your  country 
bears  to  the  rest  of  the  world. 

It  ought  to  be  one  of  your  thoughts  all  the  time  that 
you  are  sample  Americans — not  merely  sample  Navy  30 
men,  not  merely  sample  soldiers,  but  sample  Americans — 
and  that  you  have  the  point  of  view  of  America  with 
regard  to  her  Navy  and  her  Army;  that  she  is  using  them 
as  the  instruments  of  civilization,  not  as  the  instruments 


Woodrow  Wilson 

of  aggr^ 

an(j  Pner,  and  I  have  tested  his  temper.     I  have  tested  his 

wjrcretion.  I  know  that  he  is  a  man  with  a  touch  of  states- 
finanship  about  him,  and  he  has  grown  bigger  in  my  eye  each 

f  day  as  I  have  read  his  dispatches,  for  he  has  sought  always 
5  to  serve  the  thing  he  was  trying  to  do  in  the  temper  that 
we  all  recognize  and  love  to  believe  is  typically  American. 
I  challenge  you  youngsters  to  go  out  with  these  con 
ceptions,  knowing  that  you  are  part  of  the  Government 
and  force  of  the  United  States  and  that  men  will  judge 

10  us  by  you.  I  am  not  afraid  of  the  verdict.  I  cannot 
look  in  your  faces  and  doubt  what  it  will  be,  but  I  want 
you  to  take  these  great  engines  of  force  out  onto  the  seas 
like  adventurers  enlisted  for  the  elevation  of  the  spirit 
of  the  human  race.  For  that  is  the  only  distinction  that 

15  America  has.  Other  nations  have  been  strong,  other 
nations  have  piled  wealth  as  high  as  the  sky,  but  they 
have  come  into  disgrace  because  they  used  their  force 
and  their  wealth  for  the  oppression  of  mankind  and  their 
own  aggrandizement;  and  America  will  not  bring  glory 

20  to  herself,  but  disgrace,  by  following  the  beaten  paths  of 
history.  We  must  strike  out  upon  new  paths,  and  we 
must  count  upon  you  gentlemen  to  be  the  explorers  who 
will  carry  this  spirit  and  spread  this  message  all  over  the 
seas  and  in  every  port  of  the  civilized  world. 

25  You  see,  therefore,  why  I  said  that  when  I  faced  you 
I  felt  there  was  a  special  significance.  I  am  not  present 
on  an  occasion  when  you  are  about  to  scatter  on  various 
errands.  You  are  all  going  on  the  same  errand,  and  I 
like  to  feel  bound  with  you  in  one  common  organization 

30  for  the  glory  of  America.  And  her  glory  goes  deeper 
than  all  the  tinsel,  goes  deeper  than  the  sound  of  guns 
and  the  clash  of  sabers;  it  goes  down  to  the  very  founda 
tions  of  those  things  that  have  made  the  spirit  of  men 
free  and  happy  and  content. 


THE  MEANING  OF  LIBERTY 

[Address  at  Independence  Hall,  Philadelphia,  July  4,  1914.] 

MR.  CHAIRMAN  AND  FELLOW-CITIZENS: 

We  are  assembled  to  celebrate  the  one  hundred  and 
thirty-eighth  anniversary  of  the  birth  of  the  United  States. 
I  suppose  that  we  can  more  vividly  realize  the  circum 
stances  of  that  birth  standing  on  this  historic  spot  than  5 
it  would  be  possible  to  realize  them  anywhere  else.  The 
Declaration  of  Independence  was  written  in  Philadelphia; 
it  was  adopted  in  this  historic  building  by  which  we  stand. 
I  have  just  had  the  privilege  of  sitting  in  the  chair  of  the 
great  man  who  presided  over  the  deliberations  of  those  10 
who  gave  the  declaration  to  the  world.  My  hand  rests  at 
this  moment  upon  the  table  upon  which  the  declaration 
was  signed.  We  can  feel  that  we  are  almost  in  the  visible 
and  tangible  presence  of  a  great  historic  transaction. 

Have  you  ever  read  the  Declaration  of  Independence  15 
or  attended  with  close  comprehension  to  the  real  character 
of  it  when  you  have  heard  it  read?    If  you  have,  you  will 
know  that  it  is  not  a  Fourth  of  July  oration.    The  Declara 
tion  of  Independence  was  a  document  preliminary  to  war. 
It  was  a  vital  piece  of  practical  business,  not  a  piece  of  20 
rhetoric;  and  if  you  will  pass  beyond  those  preliminary 
passages  which  we  are  accustomed  to  quote  about  the 
rights  of  men  and  read  into  the  heart  of  the  document 
you  will  see  that  it  is  very  express  and  detailed,  that  it 
consists  of  a  series  of  definite  specifications  concerning  25 
actual  public  business  of  the  day.    Not  the  business  of 
our  day,  for  the  matter  with  which  it  deals  is  past,  but  the 
business  of  that  first  revolution  by  which  the  Nation  was 

8S 


84  Woodrow  Wilson 

Fletcher,  and  I  have  tested  his  temper.  I  have  tested  his 
discretion.  I  know  that  he  is  a  man  with  a  touch  of  states 
manship  about  him,  and  he  has  grown  bigger  in  my  eye  each 
day  as  I  have  read  his  dispatches,  for  he  has  sought  always 
5  to  serve  the  thing  he  was  trying  to  do  in  the  temper  that 
we  all  recognize  and  love  to  believe  is  typically  American. 
I  challenge  you  youngsters  to  go  out  with  these  con 
ceptions,  knowing  that  you  are  part  of  the  Government 
and  force  of  the  United  States  and  that  men  will  judge 

10  us  by  you.  I  am  not  afraid  of  the  verdict.  I  cannot 
look  in  your  faces  and  doubt  what  it  will  be,  but  I  want 
you  to  take  these  great  engines  of  force  out  onto  the  seas 
like  adventurers  enlisted  for  the  elevation  of  the  spirit 
of  the  human  race.  For  that  is  the  only  distinction  that 

15  America  has.  Other  nations  have  been  strong,  other 
nations  have  piled  wealth  as  high  as  the  sky,  but  they 
have  come  into  disgrace  because  they  used  their  force 
and  their  wealth  for  the  oppression  of  mankind  and  their 
own  aggrandizement;  and  America  will  not  bring  glory 

20  to  herself,  but  disgrace,  by  following  the  beaten  paths  of 
history.  We  must  strike  out  upon  new  paths,  and  we 
must  count  upon  you  gentlemen  to  be  the  explorers  who 
will  carry  this  spirit  and  spread  this  message  all  over  the 
seas  and  in  every  port  of  the  civilized  world. 

25  You  see,  therefore,  why  I  said  that  when  I  faced  you 
I  felt  there  was  a  special  significance.  I  am  not  present 
on  an  occasion  when  you  are  about  to  scatter  on  various 
errands.  You  are  all  going  on  the  same  errand,  and  I 
like  to  feel  bound  with  you  in  one  common  organization 

30  for  the  glory  of  America.  And  her  glory  goes  deeper 
than  all  the  tinsel,  goes  deeper  than  the  sound  of  guns 
and  the  clash  of  sabers;  it  goes  down  to  the  very  founda 
tions  of  those  things  that  have  made  the  spirit  of  men 
free  and  happy  and  content. 


THE  MEANING  OF  LIBERTY 

[Address  at  Independence  Hall,  Philadelphia,  July  4,  1914.] 

MR.  CHAIRMAN  AND  FELLOW-CITIZENS: 

We  are  assembled  to  celebrate  the  one  hundred  and 
thirty-eighth  anniversary  of  the  birth  of  the  United  States. 
I  suppose  that  we  can  more  vividly  realize  the  circum 
stances  of  that  birth  standing  on  this  historic  spot  than  5 
it  would  be  possible  to  realize  them  anywhere  else.  The 
Declaration  of  Independence  was  written  in  Philadelphia; 
it  was  adopted  in  this  historic  building  by  which  we  stand. 
I  have  just  had  the  privilege  of  sitting  in  the  chair  of  the 
great  man  who  presided  over  the  deliberations  of  those  10 
who  gave  the  declaration  to  the  world.  My  hand  rests  at 
this  moment  upon  the  table  upon  which  the  declaration 
was  signed.  We  can  feel  that  we  are  almost  in  the  visible 
and  tangible  presence  of  a  great  historic  transaction. 

Have  you  ever  read  the  Declaration  of  Independence  15 
or  attended  with  close  comprehension  to  the  real  character 
of  it  when  you  have  heard  it  read?    If  you  have,  you  will 
know  that  it  is  not  a  Fourth  of  July  oration.    The  Declara 
tion  of  Independence  was  a  document  preliminary  to  war. 
It  was  a  vital  piece  of  practical  business,  not  a  piece  of  20 
rhetoric;  and  if  you  will  pass  beyond  those  preliminary 
passages  which  we  are  accustomed  to  quote  about  the 
rights  of  men  and  read  into  the  heart  of  the  document 
you  will  see  that  it  is  very  express  and  detailed,  that  it 
consists  of  a  series  of  definite  specifications  concerning  25 
actual  public  business  of  the  day.    Not  the  business  of 
our  day,  for  the  matter  with  which  it  deals  is  past,  but  the 
business  of  that  first  revolution  by  which  the  Nation  was 

8S 


:,.      ^ 

86  Woodrow  Wilson 

set  up,  the  business  of  1776.  Its  general  statements,  its 
general  declarations  cannot  mean  anything  to  us  unless 
we  append  to  it  a  similar  specific  body  of  particulars  as 
to  what  we  consider  the  essential  business  of  our  own  day. 
5  Liberty  does  not  consist,  my  fellow-citizens,  in  mere 
general  declarations  of  the  rights  of  man.  It  consists  in 
the  translation  of  those  declarations  into  definite  action. 
Therefore,  standing  here  where  the  declaration  was 
adopted,  reading  its  businesslike  sentences,  we  ought  to 

10  ask  ourselves  what  there  is  in  it  for  us.  There  is  nothing 
in  it  for  us  unless  we  can  translate  it  into  the  terms  of 
our  own  conditions  and  of  our  own  lives.  We  must  reduce 
it  to  what  the  lawyers  call  a  bill  of  particulars.  It  con 
tains  a  bill  of  particulars,  but  the  bill  of  particulars  of 

15  1776.  If  we  would  keep  it  alive,  we  must  fill  it  with  a  bill 
of  particulars  of  the  year  1914. 

The  task  to  which  we  have  constantly  to  readdress 
ourselves  is  the  task  of  proving  that  we  are  worthy  of  the 
men  who  drew  this  great  declaration  and  know  what  they 

20  would  have  done  in  our  circumstances.  Patriotism  con 
sists  in  some  very  practical  things — practical  in  that  they 
/belong  to  the  life  of  every  day,  that  they  wear  no  extraor 
dinary  distinction  about  them,  that  they  are  connected 
with  commonplace  duty.  The  way  to  be  patriotic  in 

25  America  is  not  only  to  love  America  but  to  love  the  duty 
that  lies  nearest  to  our  hand  and  know  that  in  performing 
it  we  are  serving  our  country.  There  are  some  gentlemen 
in  Washington,  for  example,  at  this  very  moment  who  are 
showing  themselves  very  patriotic  in  a  way  which  does 

30  not  attract  wide  attention  but  seems  to  belong  to  mere 
everyday  obligations.  The  Members  of  the  House  and 
Senate  who  stay  in  hot  Washington  to  maintain  a  quorum 
of  the  Houses  and  transact  the  all-important  business  of 
the  Nation  are  doing  an  act  of  patriotism.  I  honor  them 


The  Meaning  of  Liberty  87 

for  it,  and  I  am  glad  to  stay  there  and  stick  by  them  until 
the  work  is  done. 

It  is  patriotic,  also,  to  learn  what  the  facts  of  our  na 
tional  life  are  and  to  face  them  with  candor.  I  have  heard 
a  great  many  facts  stated  about  the  present  business  condi-  5 
tion  of  this  country,  for  example — a  great  many  allega 
tions  of  fact,  at  any  rate,  but  the  allegations  do  not  tally 
with  one  another.  And  yet  I  know  that  truth  always 
matches  with  truth;  and  when  I  find  some  insisting  that 
everything  is  going  wrong  and  others  insisting  that  every-  10 
thing  is  going  right,  and  when  I  know  from  a  wide  observa 
tion  of  the  general  circumstances  of  the  country  taken  as 
a  whole  that  things  are  going  extremely  well,  I  wonder 
what  those  who  are  crying  out  that  things  are  wrong  are 
trying  to  do.  Are  they  trying  to  serve  the  country,  or  15 
are  they  trying  to  serve  something  smaller  than  the  coun 
try?  Are  they  trying  to  put  hope  into  the  hearts  of  the 
men  who  work  and  toil  every  day,  or  are  they  trying  to 
plant  discouragement  and  despair  in  those  hearts?  And 
why  do  they  cry  that  everything  is  wrong  and  yet  do  20 
nothing  to  set  it  right?  If  they  love  America  and  any 
thing  is  wrong  amongst  us,  it  is  their  business  to  put  their 
hand  with  ours  to  the  task  of  setting  it  right.  When  the 
facts  are  known  and  acknowledged,  the  duty  of  all  pa 
triotic  men  is  to  accept  them  in  candor  and  to  address  25 
themselves  hopefully  and  confidently  to  the  common 
counsel  which  is  necessary  to  act  upon  them  wisely  and 
in  universal  concert. 

I  have  had  some  experiences  in  the  last  fourteen  months 
which  have  not  been  entirely  reassuring.  It  was  uni-  30 
versally  admitted,  for  example,  my  fellow-citizens,  that 
the  banking  system  of  this  country  needed  reorganiza 
tion.  We  set  the  best  minds  that  we  could  find  to  the 
task  of  discovering  the  best  method  of  reorganization, 


88  Wood  row  Wilson 

But  we  met  with  hardly  anything  but  criticism  from  the 
bankers  of  the  country;  we  met  with  hardly  anything  but 
resistance  from  the  majority  of  those  at  least  who  spoke 
at  all  concerning  the  matter.  And  yet  so  soon  as  that 
5  act  was  passed  there  was  a  universal  chorus  of  applause, 
and  the  very  men  who  had  opposed  the  measure  joined  in 
that  applause.  If  it  was  wrong  the  day  before  it  was 
passed,  why  was  it  right  the  day  after  it  was  passed?  Where 
had  been  the  candor  of  criticism  not  only,  but  the  concert 
10  of  counsel  which  makes  legislative  action  vigorous  and 
safe  and  successful? 

It  is  not  patriotic  to  concert  measures  against  one  an 
other;  it  is  patriotic  to  concert  measures  for  one  another. 

In  one  sense. the  Declaration  of  Independence  has  lost 
15  its  significance.    It  has  lost  its  significance  as  a  declara 
tion  of  national  independence.    Nobody  outside  of  America 
believed  when  it  was  uttered  that  we  could  make  good 
our  independence;  now  nobody  anywhere  would  dare  to 
doubt  that  we  are  independent  and  can  maintain  our  in- 
20  dependence.    As  a  declaration  of  independence,  therefore, 
it  is  a  mere  historic  document.     Our  independence  is  a 
Jact  so  stupendous  that  it  can  be  measured  only  by  the 
;  size  and  energy  and  variety  and  wealth  and  power  of  one 
J  of  the  greatest  nations  in  the  world.    But  it  is  one  thing  to 
25  be  independent  and  it  is  another  thing  to  know  what  to 
do  with  your  independence.    It  is  one  thing  to  come  to 
j  your  majority  and  another  thing  to  know  what  you  are 
going  to  do  with  your  life  and  your  energies;  and  one  of 
the  most  serious  questions  for  sober-minded  men  to  ad- 
30  dress  themselves  to  in  the  United  States  is  this:  What  are 
we  going  to  do  with  the  influence  and  power  of  this  great 
Nation?    Are  we  going  to  play  the  old  role  of  using  that 
power  for  our  aggrandizement  and  material  benefit  only? 
You  know  what  that  may  mean.    It  may  upon  occasion 


The  Meaning  of  Liberty  89 

mean  that  we  shall  use  it  to  make  the  peoples  of  other 
nations  suffer  in  the  way  in  which  we  said  it  was  intoler 
able  to  suffer  when  we  uttered  our  Declaration  of  Inde 
pendence. 

The  Department  of  State  at  Washington  is  constantly  5 
called  upon  to  back  up  the  commercial  enterprises  and  the 
industrial   enterprises   of   the   United   States   in   foreign 
countries,  and  it  at  one  time  went  so  far  in  that  direction 
that  all  its  diplomacy  came  to  be  designated  as  "dollar 
diplomacy."    It  was  called  upon  to  support  every  man  10 
who  wanted  to  earn  anything  anywhere  if  he  was  an 
American.    But  there  ought  to  be  a  limit  to  that.    There 
is  no  man  who  is  more  interested  than  I  am  in  carrying  the 
enterprise  of  American  business  men  to  every  quarter  of 
the  globe.    I  was  interested  in  it  long  before  I  was  sus-  15 
pected  of  being  a  politician.     I  have  been  preaching  it 
year  after  year  as  the  great  thing  that  lay  in  the  future 
for  the  United  States,  to  show  her  wit  and  skill  and  enter 
prise  and  influence  in  every  country  in  the  world.     But 
observe  the  limit  to  all  that  which  is  laid  upon  us  perhaps  20 
more  than  upon  any  other  nation  in  the  world.    We  set 
this  Nation  up,  at  any  rate  we  professed  to  set  it  up,  to 
vindicate  the  rights  of  men.    We  did  not  name  any  dif 
ferences  between  one  race  and  another.    We  did  not  set 
up  any  barriers  against  any  particular  people.    We  opened  25 
our  gates  to  all  the  world  and  said,  "Let  all  men  who  wish 
to  be  free  come  to  us  and  they  will  be  welcome."    We  said, 
"This  independence  of  ours  is  not  a  selfish  thing  for  our 
own  exclusive  private  use.    It  is  for  everybody  to  whom 
we  can  find  the  means  of  extending  it."    We  cannot  with  30 
that  oath  taken  in  our  youth,  we  cannot  with  that  great 
ideal  set  before  us  when  we  were  a  young  people  and  num 
bered  only  a  scant  3,000,000,  take  upon  ourselves,  now 
that  we  are  100,000,000  strong,  any  other  conception  of 


90  Woodrow  Wilson 

duty  than  we  then  entertained.  If  American  enterprise 
in  foreign  countries,  particularly  in  those  foreign  countries 
which  are  not  strong  enough  to  resist  us,  takes  the  shape 
of  imposing  upon  and  exploiting  the  mass  of  the  people 
5  of  that  country  it  ought  to  be  checked  and  not  encouraged. 
I  am  willing  to  get  anything  for  an  American  that  money 
and  enterprise  can  obtain  except  the  suppression  of  the 
rights  of  other  men.  I  will  not  help  any  man  buy  a  power 
which  he  ought  not  to  exercise  over  his  fellow-beings. 

10  You  know,  my  fellow-countrymen,  what  a  big  question 
there  is  in  Mexico.  Eighty-five  per  cent  of  the  Mexican 
people  have  never  been  allowed  to  have  any  genuine  par 
ticipation  in  their  own  Government  or  to  exercise  any 
substantial  rights  with  regard  to  the  very  land  they  live 

15  upon.  All  the  rights  that  men  most  desire  have  been  exer 
cised  by  the  other  fifteen  per  cent.  Do  you  suppose  that 
that  circumstance  is  not  sometimes  in  my  thought?  I 
know  that  the  American  people  have  a  heart  that  will 
beat  just  as  strong  for  those  millions  in  Mexico  as  it  will 

20  beat,  or  has  beaten,  for  any  other  millions  elsewhere  in 
the  world,  and  that  when  once  they  conceive  what  is  at 
stake  in  Mexico  they  will  know  what  ought  to  be  done  in 
Mexico.  I  hear  a  great  deal  said  about  the  loss  of  prop 
erty  in  Mexico  and  the  loss  of  the  lives  of  foreigners,  and 

25  I  deplore  these  things  with  all  my  heart.  Undoubtedly, 
upon  the  conclusion  of  the  present  disturbed  conditions  in 
Mexico  those  who  have  been  unjustly  deprived  of  their 
property  or  in  any  wise  unjustly  put  upon  ought  to  be 
compensated.  Men's  individual  rights  have  no  doubt 

30  been  invaded,  and  the  invasion  of  those  rights  has  been 
attended  by  many  deplorable  circumstances  which  ought 
sometime,  in  the  proper  way,  to  be  accounted  for.  But 
back  of  it  all  is  the  struggle  of  a  people  to  come  into  its 
own,  and  while  we  look  upon  the  incidents  in  the  fore- 


on 

lib 

-  thi 

•~™ 


The  Meaning  of  Liberty  91 

ground  let  us  not  forget  the  great  tragic  reality  in  the 
background  which  towers  above  the  whole  picture. 

A  patriotic  American  is  a  man  who  is  not  niggardly  and 
selfish  in  the  things  that  he  enjoys  that  make  for  human 
liberty  and  the  rights  of  man.  He  wants  to  share  them 
with  the  whole  world,  and  he  is  never  so  proud  of  the  great 
flag  under  wrhich  he  lives  as  when  it  comes  to  mean  to 
other  people  as  well  as  to  himself  a  symbol  of  hope  and 
liberty.  I  would  be  ashamed  of  this  flag  if  it  ever  did  any 
thing  outside^ln^lriciriEEat  we  would  not~piermit  it  To  do  10 
inside  of  America" 


The  world  is  becoming  more  complicated  every  day, 
my  fellow-citizens.  No  man  ought  to  be  foolish  enough  to 
think  that  he  understands  it  all.  And,  therefore,  I  am  glad 
that  there  are  some  simple  things  in  the  world.  One  of  the  15 
simple  things  is  principle.  Honesty  is  a  perfectly  simple 
thing.  It  is  hard  for  me  to  believe  that  in  most  circum 
stances  when  a  man  has  a  choice  of  ways  he  does  not  know 
which  is  the  right  way  and  which  is  the  wrong  way.  No 
man  who  has  chosen  the  wrong  way  ought  even  to  come  20 
into  Independence  Square;  it  is  holy  ground  which  he 
ought  not  to  tread  upon.  He  ought  not  to  come  where 
immortal  voices  have  uttered  the  great  sentences  of  such  a 
document  as  this  Declaration  of  Independence  upon  which 
rests  the  liberty  of  a  whole  nation.  25 

And  so  I  say  that  it  is  patriotic  sometimes  to  prefer  the 
honor  of  the  country  to  its  material  interest.    Would  you 
rather  be  deemed  by  all  the  nations  of  the  world  incapable    /  I 
'of  keeping  your  treaty  obligations  in  order  that  you  might  /  / 
have  free  tolls  for  American  ships?     The  treaty  under  fiJ 
which  we  gave  up  that  right  may  have  been  a  mistaken 
treaty,  but  there  was  no  mistake  about  its  meaning. 

When  I  have  made  a  promise  as  a  man  I  try  to  keep  it, 
and  I  know  of  no  other  rule  permissible  to  a  nation.    The 


LVHP  VIA 

92  Woodrow  Wilson 

most  distinguished  nation  in  the  world  is  the  nation 
that  can  and  will  keep  its  promises  even  to  its  own  hurt. 
And  I  want  to  say  parenthetically  that  I  do  not  think 
anybody  was  hurt.  I  cannot  be  enthusiastic  for  subsidies 

5  to  a  monopoly,  but  let  those  who  are  enthusiastic  for 
subsidies  ask  themselves  whether  they  prefer  subsidies  to 
unsullied  honor. 

The  most  patriotic  man,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  is  some 
times  the  man  who  goes  in  the  direction  that  he  thinks 

10  right  even  when  he  sees  half  the  world  against  him.  It  is 
the  dictate  of  patriotism  to  sacrifice  yourself  if  you  think 
that  that  is  the  path  of  honor  and  of  duty.  Do  not  blame 
others  if  they  do  not  agree  with  you.  Do  not  die  with 
bitterness  in  your  heart  because  you  did  not  convince  the 

15  rest  of  the  world,  but  die  happy  because  you  believe  that 
you  tried  to  serve  your  country  by  not  selling  your  soul. 
Those  were  grim  days,  the  days  of  1776.  Those  gentlemen 
did  not  attach  their  names  to  the  Declaration  of  Independ 
ence  on  this  table  expecting  a  holiday  on  the  next  day,  and 

20  that  4th  of  July  was  not  itself  a  holiday.  They  attached 
their  signatures  to  that  significant  document  knowing  that 
if  they  failed  it  was  certain  that  every  one  of  them  would 
hang  for  the  failure.  They  were  committing  treason  in  the 
interest  of  the  liberty  of  3,000,000  people  in  America.  All 

25  the  rest  of  the  world  was  against  them  and  smiled  with 
cynical  incredulity  at  the  audacious  undertaking.  Do  you 
think  that  if  they  could  see  this  great  Nation  now  they 
would  regret  anything  that  they  then  did  to  draw  the  gaze 
of  a  hostile  world  upon  them?  Every  idea  must  be  started 

30  by  somebody,  and  it  is  a  lonely  thing  to  start  anything. 

Yet  if  it  is  in  you,  you  must  start  it  if  you  have  a  man's 

blood  in  you  and  if  you  love  the  country  that  you  profess 

to  be  working  for. 

I  am  sometimes  very  much  interested  when  I  see  gentle- 


The  Meaning  of  Liberty  93 

men  supposing  that  popularity  is  the  way  to  success  in 
America.  The  way  to  success  in  this  great  country,  with 
its  fair  judgments,  is  to  show  that  you  are  not  afraid  of 
anybody  except  God  and  his  final  verdict.  If  I  did  not  be 
lieve  that,  I  would  not  believe  in  democracy.  If  I  did  not  3 
believe  that,  I  would  not  believe  that  people  can  govern 
themselves.  If  I  did  not  believe  that  themorajjudgment 
would  be  the  last  judgment,  the  fina^fSSgnlenT^  in  the 
minds  of  men  as  well  as  the  tribunal  of  God,  I  could  not 
believe  in  popular  government.  But  I  do  believe  these  10 
things,  and,  therefore,  I  earnestly  believe  in  the  democracy 
not  only  of  America  but  of  every  awakened  people  that 
wishes  and  intends  to  govern  and  control  its  own  affairs. 

It  is  very  inspiring,  my  friends,  to  come  to  this  that  may 
be  called  the  original  fountain  of  independence  and  liberty  15 
in  American  and  here  drink  draughts  of  patriotic  feeling 
which  seem  to  renew  the  very  blood  in  one's  veins.    Down 
in  Washington  sometimes  when  the  days  are  hot  and  the 
business  presses  intolerably  and  there  are  so  many  things 
to  do  that  it  does  not  seem  possible  to  do  anything  in  the  20 
way  it  ought  to  be  done,  it  is  always  possible  to  lift  one's 
thought  above  the  task  of  the  moment  and,  as  it  were,  to 
realize  that  great  thing  of  which  we  are  all  parts,  the  great 
body  of  American  feeling  and  American  principle.     No 
man  could  do  the  work  that  has  to  be  done  in  Washington  25 
if  he  allowed  himself  to  be  separated  from  that  body  of 
principle.    He  must  make  himself  feel  that  he  is  a  part  of 
the  people  of  the  United  States,  that  he  is  trying  to  think 
not  only  for  them,  but  with  them,  and  then  he  cannot 
feel  lonely.    He  not  only  cannot  feel  lonely  but  he  cannot  30 
feel  afraid  of  anything. 

My  dream  is  that  as  the  years  go  on  and  the  world 
knows  more  and  more  of  America  it  will  also  drink  at  these 
fountains  of  youth  and  renewal;  that  it  also  will  turn  to 


94  Woodrow  Wilson 

America  for  those  moral  inspirations  which  lie  at  the  basis 

of  all  freedom;  that  the  world  will  never  fear  America 

unless  it  feels  that  it  is  engaged  in  some  enterprise  which  is 

inconsistent  with  the  rights  of  humanity;  and  that  America 

5  will  come  into  the  full  light  of  the  day  when  all  shall  know 

that  she  puts  human  rights  above  all  other  rights  and  that 

her  flag  is  the  flag  not  only  of  America  but  of  humanity. 

What  other  great  people  has  devoted  itself   to  this 

exalted  ideal?    To  what  other  nation  in  the  world  can  all 

10  eyes  look  for  an  instant  sympathy  that  thrills  the  whole 
body  politic  when  men  anywhere  are  fighting  for  their 
rights?  I  do  not  know  that  there  will  ever  be  a  declaration 
of  independence  and  of  grievances  for  mankind,  but  I  be 
lieve  that  if  any  such  document  is  ever  drawn  it  will  be 

15  drawn  in  the  spirit  of  the  American  Declaration  of  In 
dependence,  and  that  America  has  lifted  high  the  light 
which  will  shine  unto  all  generations  and  guide  the  feet  of 
mankind  to  the  goal  of  justice  and  liberty  and  peace. 


1 


AMERICAN  NEUTRALITY 

[An  appeal  to  the  citizens  of  the  Republic,  requesting  their  as 
sistance  in  maintaining  a  state  of  neutrality  during  the  European 
War,  August  20,  1914.] 

MY  FELLOW-COUNTRYMEN: 

I  suppose  that  every  thoughtful  man  in  America  has 
asked  himself,  during  these  last  troubled  weeks,  what  in 
fluence  the  European  war  may  exert  upon  the  United 
States,  and  I  take  the  liberty  of  addressing  a  few  words  to  5 
you  in  order  to  point  out  that  it  is  entirely  within  our 
own  choice  what  its  effects  upon  us  will  be  and  to  urge 
very  earnestly  upon  you  the  sort  of  speech  and  conduct 
which  will  best  safeguard  the  Nation  against  distress  and 
disaster.  10 

The  effect  of  the  war  upon  the  United  States  will  depend 
upon  what  American  citizens  say  and  do.  Every  man  who 
really  loves  America  will  act  and  speak  in  the  true  spirit  of 
neutrality,  which  is  the  spirit  of  impartiality  and  fairness 
and  friendliness  to  all  concerned.  The  spirit  of  the  Nation  15 
in  this  critical  matter  will  be  determined  largely  by  what 
individuals  and  society  and  those  gathered  in  public 
meetings  do  and  say,  upon  what  newspapers  and  magazines 
contain,  upon  what  ministers  utter  in  their  pulpits,  and 
men  proclaim  as  their  opinions  on  the  street.  20 

The  people  of  the  United  States  are  drawn  from  many 
nations,  and  chiefly  from  the  nations  now  at  war.  It  is 
natural  and  inevitable  that  there  should  be  the  utmost 
variety  of  sympathy  and  desire  among  them  with  regard 
to  the  issues  and  circumstances  of  the  conflict.  Some  will  25 
wish  one  nation,  others  another,  to  succeed  in  the  mo- 

95 


96  Woodrow  Wilson 

mentous  struggle.  It  will  be  easy  to  excite  passion  and 
difficult  to  allay  it.  Those  responsible  for  exciting  it  will 
assume  a  heavy  responsibility,  responsibility  for  no  less  a 
thing  than  that  the  people  of  the  United  States,  whose  love 
5  of  their  country  and  whose  loyalty  to  its  Government 
should  unite  them  as  Americans  all,  bound  in  honor  and 
affection  to  think  first  of  her  and  her  interests,  may  be 
divided  in  camps  of  hostile  opinion,  hot  against  each 
other,  involved  in  the  war  itself  in  impulse  and  opinion  if 

10  not  in  action. 

Such  divisions  among  us  would  be  fatal  to  our  peace  of 
mind  and  might  seriously  stand  in  the  way  of  the  proper 
performance  of  our  duty  as  the  one  great  nation  at  peace, 
the  one  people  holding  itself  ready  to  play  a  part  of  im- 

15  partial  mediation  and  speak  the  counsels  of  peace  and 
accommodation,  not  as  a  partisan,  but  as  a  friend. 

I  venture,  therefore,  my  fellow  countrymen,  to  speak  a 
solemn  word  of  warning  to  you  against  that  deepest,  most 
subtle,  most  essential  breach  of  neutrality  which  may 

20  spring  out  of  partisanship,  out  of  passionately  taking  sides. 
The  United  States  must  be  neutral  in  fact  as  well  as  in 
name  during  these  days  that  are  to  try  men's  souls.  We 
must  be  impartial  in  thought  as  well  as  in  action,  must  put 
a  curb  upon  our  sentiments  as  well  as  upon  every  transac- 

25  tion  that  might  be  construed  as  a  preference  of  one  party 
to  the  struggle  before  another. 

My  thought  is  of  America.  I  am  speaking,  I  feel  sure, 
the  earnest  wish  and  purpose  of  every  thoughtful  American 
that  this  great  country  of  ours,  which  is,  of  course,  the 

30  first  in  our  thoughts  and  in  our  hearts,  should  show  herself 
in  this  time  of  peculiar  trial  a  Nation  fit  beyond  others  to 
exhibit  the  fine  poise  of  undisturbed  judgment,  the  dignity 
of  self-control,  the  efficiency  of  dispassionate  action;  a 
Nation  that  neither  sits  in  judgment  upon  others  nor  is 


American  Neutrality  97 

disturbed  in  her  own  counsels  and  which  keeps  herself  fit 
and  free  to  do  what  is  honest  and  disinterested  and  truly 
serviceable  for  the  peace  of  the  world. 

Shall  we  not  resolve  to  put  upon  ourselves  the  restraints 
which  will  bring  to  our  people  the  happiness  and  the  great 
and  lasting  influence  for  peace  we  covet  for  them? 


APPEAL  FOR  ADDITIONAL  REVENUE 

[Address  delivered  at  a  joint  session  of  the  two  Houses  of  Congress, 
September  4,  1914.] 

GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  CONGRESS: 

I  come  to  you  to-day  to  discharge  a  duty  which  I  wish 
with  all  my  heart  I  might  have  been  spared;  but  it  is  a 
very  clear  duty,  and  therefore  I  perform  it  without  hesita- 

5  tion  or  apology.    I  come  to  ask  very  earnestly  that  addi 
tional  revenue  be  provided  for  the  Government. 

During  the  month  of  August  there  was,  as  compared 
with  the  corresponding  month  of  last  year,  a  falling  off  of 
$10,629,538  in  the  revenues  collected  from  customs.  A 

10  continuation  of  this  decrease  in  the  same  proportion 
throughout  the  current  fiscal  year  would  probably  mean 
a  loss  of  customs  revenues  of  from  sixty  to  one  hundred 
millions.  I  need  not  tell  you  to  what  this  falling  off  is 
due.  It  is  due,  in  chief  part,  not  to  the  reductions  recently 

15  made  in  the  customs  duties,  but  to  the  great  decrease  in 
importations;  and  that  is  due  to  the  extraordinary  extent 
of  the  industrial  area  affected  by  the  present  war  in  Europe. 
Conditions  have  arisen  which  no  man  foresaw;  they  affect 
the  whole  world  of  commerce  and  economic  production; 

20  and  they  must  be  faced  and  dealt  with. 

It  would  be  very  unwise  to  postpone  dealing  with  them. 
Delay  in  such  a  matter  and  in  the  particular  circumstances 
in  which  we  now  find  ourselves  as  a  nation  might  involve 
consequences  of  the  most  embarrassing  and  deplorable 

25  sort,  for  which  I,  for  one,  would  not  care  to  be  responsible. 
It  would  be  very  dangerous  in  the  present  circumstances 
to  create  a  moment's  doubt  as  to  the  strength  and  suffi 
ciency  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States,  its  ability 

98 


Appeal  for  Additional  Revenue  99 

to  assist,  to  steady,  and  sustain  the  financial  operations 
of  the  country's  business.  If  the  Treasury  is  known,  or 
even  thought,  to  be. weak,  where  will  be  our  peace  of  mind? 
The  whole  industrial  activity  of  the  country  would  be 
chilled  and  demoralized.  Just  now  the  peculiarly  difficult  5 
financial  problems  of  the  moment  are  being  successfully 
dealt  with,  with  great  self-possession  and  good  sense  and 
very  sound  judgment;  but  they  are  only  in  process  of  being 
worked  out.  If  the  process  of  solution  is  to  be  completed, 
no  one  must  be  given  reason  to  doubt  the  solidity  and  10 
adequacy  of  the  Treasury  of  the  Government  which  stands 
behind  the  whole,  method  by  which  our  difficulties  are 
being  met  and  handled. 

The  Treasury  itself  could  get  along  for  a  considerable 
period,  no  doubt,  without  immediate  resort  to  new  sources  15 
of  taxation.  But  at  what  cost  to  the  business  of  the  com 
munity?  Approximately  $75,000,000,  a  large  part  of 
the  present  Treasury  balance,  is  now  on  deposit  with 
national  banks  distributed  throughout  the  country.  It 
is  deposited,  of  course,  on  call.  I  need  not  point  out  to  20 
you  what  the  probable  consequences  of  inconvenience 
and  distress  and  confusion  would  be  if  the  diminishing 
income  of  the  Treasury  should  make  it  necessary  rapidly 
to  withdraw  these  deposits.  And  yet  without  additional 
revenue  that  plainly  might  become  necessary,  and  the  25 
time  when  it  became  necessary  could  not  be  controlled 
or  determined  by  the  convenience  of  the  business  of  the 
country.  It  would  have  to  be  determined  by  the  opera 
tions  and  necessities  of  the  Treasury  itself.  Such  risks 
are  not  necessary  and  ought  not  to  be  run.  We  cannot  30 
too  scrupulously  or  carefully  safeguard  a  financial  situa 
tion  which  is  at  best,  while  war  continues  in  Europe, 
difficult  and  abnormal.  Hesitation  and  delay  are  the 
worst  forms  of  bad  policy  under  such  conditions. 


ioo  Woodrow  Wilson 

And  we  ought  not  to  borrow.  We  ought  to  resort  to 
taxation,  however  we  may  regret  the  necessity  of  putting 
additional  temporary  burdens  on  our  people.  To  sell 
bonds  would  be  to  make  a  most  untimely  and  unjustifiable 
5  demand  on  the  money  market;  untimely,  because  this  is 
manifestly  not  the  time  to  withdraw  working  capital 
from  other  uses  to  pay  the  Government's  bills;  unjustifi 
able,  because  unnecessary.  The  country  is  able  to  pay 
any  just  and  reasonable  taxes  without  distress.  And  to 

10  every  other  form  of  borrowing,  whether  for  long  periods 
or  for  short,  there  is  the  same  objection.  These  are  not 
the  circumstances,  this  is  at  this  particular  moment  and 
in  this  particular  exigency  not  the  market,  to  borrow 
large  sums  of  money.  What  we  are  seeking  is  to  ease  and 

15  assist  every  financial  transaction,  not  to  add  a  single 
additional  embarrassment  to  the  situation.  The  people 
of  this  country  are  both  intelligent  and  profoundly  pa 
triotic.  They  are  ready  to  meet  the  present  conditions 
in  the  right  way  and  to  support  the  Government  with 

20  generous  self-denial.  They  know  and  understand,  and 
will  be  intolerant  only  of  those  who  dodge  responsibility 
or  are  not  frank  with  them. 

The  occasion  is  not  of  our  own  making.  We  had  no 
part  in  making  it.  But  it  is  here.  It  affects  us  as  directly 

25  and  palpably  almost  as  if  we  were  participants  in  the 
circumstances  which  gave  rise  to  it.  We  must  accept 
the  inevitable  with  calm  judgment  and  unruffled  spirits, 
like  men  accustomed  to  deal  with  the  unexpected,  habit 
uated  to  take  care  of  themselves,  masters  of  their  own 

30  affairs  and  their  own  fortunes.  We  shall  pay  the  bill, 
though  we  did  not  deliberately  incur  it. 

In  order  to  meet  every  demand  upon  the  Treasury 
without  delay  or  peradventure  and  in  order  to  keep  the 
Treasury  strong,  unquestionably  strong,  and  strong 


Appeal  for  Additional  Revenue  101 

throughout  the  present  anxieties,  I  respectfully  urge  that 
an  additional  revenue  of  $100,000,000  be  raised  through 
internal  taxes  devised  in  your  wisdom  to  meet  the  emer 
gency.  The  only  suggestion  I  take  the  liberty  of  making 
is  that  such  sources  of  revenue  be  chosen  as  will  begin  to  5 
yield  at  once  and  yield  with  a  certain  and  constant  flow. 

I  cannot  close  without  expressing  the  confidence  with 
which  I  approach  a  Congress,  with  regard  to  this  or  any 
other  matter,  which  has  shown  so  untiring  a  devotion  to 
public  duty,  which  has  responded  to  the  needs  of  the  10 
Nation  throughout  a  long  season  despite  inevitable  fatigue 
and  personal  sacrifice,  and  so  large  a  proportion  of  whose 
Members  have  devoted  their  whole  time  and  energy  to 
the  business  of  the  country. 


THE  OPINION  OF  THE  WORLD 

[Address  before  the  American  Bar  Association,  in  Continental 
Hall,  October  20,  1914.] 

MR.   PRESIDENT,    GENTLEMEN   OF  THE  AMERICAN  BAR 

ASSOCIATION: 

I  am  very  deeply  gratified  by  the  greeting  that  your 
president  has  given  me  and  by  your  response  to  it.  My 

5  only  strength  lies  in  your  confidence. 

We  stand  now  in  a  peculiar  case.  Our  first  thought,  I 
suppose,  as  lawyers,  is  of  international  law,  of  those  bonds 
of  right  and  principle  which  draw  the  nations  together 
and  hold  the  community  of  the  world  to  some  standards 

10  of  action.  We  know  that  we  see  in  international  law,  as 
it  were,  the  moral  processes  by  which  law  itself  came  into 
existence.  I  know  that  as  a  lawyer  I  have  myself  at  times 
felt  that  there  was  no  real  comparison  between  the  law  of 
a  nation  and  the  law  of  nations,  because  the  latter  lacked 

^5  the  sanction  that  gave  the  former  strength  and  validity. 

\  And  yet,  if  you  look  into  the  matter  more  closely,  you  will 

find  that  the  two  have  the  same  foundations,  and  that 

those  foundations  are  more  evident  and  conspicuous  in 

our  day  than  they  have  ever  been  before. 

20  The  opinion  of  the  world  is  the  mistress  of  the  world; 
and  the  processes  of  international  law  are  the  slow  proc 
esses  by  which  opinion  works  its  will.  What  impresses 
me  is  the  constant  thought  that  that  is  the  tribunal  at  the 
bar  of  which  we  all  sit.  I  would  call  your  attention,  in- 

25  cidentally,  to  the  circumstance  that  it  does  not  observe 
the  ordinary  rules  of  evidence;  which  has  sometimes  sug 
gested  to  me  that  the  ordinary  rules  of  evidence  had 

102 


The  Opinion  of  the  World  103 

shown  some  signs  of  growing  antique.  Everything,  rumor 
included,  is  heard  in  this  court,  and  the  standard  of  judg 
ment  is  not  so  much  the  character  of  the  testimony  as  the 
character  of  the  witness.  The  motives  are  disclosed,  the 
purposes  are  conjectured,  and  that  opinion  is  finally  ac 
cepted  which  seems  to  be,  not  the  best  founded  in  law, 
perhaps,  but  the  best  founded  in  integrity  of  character 
and  of  morals.  That  is  the  process  which  is  slowrly  work 
ing  its  will  upon  the  world;  and  what  we  should  be  watch 
ful  of  is  not  so  much  jealous  interests  as  sound  principles 
of  action.  The  disinterested  course  is  always  the  biggest 
course  to  pursue  not  only,  but  it  is  in  the  long  run  the 
most  profitable  course  to  pursue.  If  you  can  establish 
your  character,  you  can  establish  your  credit. 

What  I  wanted  to  suggest  to  this  association,  in  bidding  15 
them  very  hearty  welcome  to  the  city,  is  whether  we  suf 
ficiently  apply  these  same  ideas  to  the  body  of  municipal 
law  which  we  seek  to  administer.    Citations  seem  to  play 
so  much  larger  a  role  now  than  principle.    There  was  a 
time  when  the  thoughtful  eye  of  the  judge  rested  upon  20 
the  changes  of  social  circumstances  and  almost  palpably 
saw  the  law  arise  out  of  human  life.    Have  we  got  to  a 
time  when  the  only  way  to  change  law  is  by  statute?    The 
changing  of  law  by  statute  seems  to  me  like  mending  a 
garment  with  a  patch,  whereas  law  should  grow  by  the  life  25 
that  is  in  it,  not  by  the  life  that  is  outside  of  it. 

I  once  said  to  a  lawyer  with  whom  I  was  discussing 
some  question  of  precedent,  and  in  whose  presence  I  was 
venturing  to  doubt  the  rational  validity,  at  any  rate,  of 
the  particular  precedents  he  cited,  " After  all,  isn't  our  30 
object  justice?"  And  he  said,  "God  forbid!  We  should 
be  very  much  confused  if  we  made  that  our  standard. 
Our  standard  is  to  find  out  what  the  rule  has  been  and 
how  the  rule  that  has  been  applies  to  the  case  that  is."  I 


[O4  Wood  row  Wilson 

should  hate  to  think  that  the  law  was  based  entirely  upon 
"has  beens."  I  should  hate  to  think  that  the  law  did  not 
derive  its  impulse  from  looking  forward  rather  than  from 
looking  backward,  or,  rather,  that  it  did  not  derive  its  in- 
5  struction  from  looking  about  and  seeing  what  the  circum 
stances  of  man  actually  are  and  what  the  impulses  of 
justice  necessarily  are. 

Understand  me,  gentlemen,  I  am  not  venturing  in  this 
presence  to  impeach  the  law.     For  the  present,  by  the 

10  force  of  circumstances,  I  am  in  part  the  embodiment  of 
the  law,  and  it  would  be  very  awkward  to  disavow  myself. 
But  I  do  wish  to  make  this  intimation,  that  in  this  time 
of  world  change,  in  this  time  when  we  are  going  to  find 
out  just  how,  in  what  particulars,  and  to  what  extent  the 

15  real  facts  of  human  life  and  the  real  moral  judgments  of 
mankind  prevail,  it  is  worth  while  looking  inside  our  mu 
nicipal  law  and  seeing  whether  the  judgments  of  the  law 
are  made  square  with  the  moral  judgments  of  mankind. 
For  I  believe  that  we  are  custodians,  not  of  commands, 

20  but  of  a  spirit.    We  are  custodians  of  the  spirit  of  righteous 
ness,  of  the  spirit  of  equal-handed  justice,  of  the  spirit  of 
hope  which  believes  in  the  perfectibility  of  the  law  with 
the  perfectibility  of  human  life  itself. 
Public  life,  like  private  life,  would  be  very  dull  and 

25  dry  if  it  were  not  for  this  belief  in  the  essential  beauty  of 
the  human  spirit  and  the  belief  that  the  human  spirit 
could  be  translated  into  action  and  into  ordinance.  Not 
entire.  You  cannot  go  any  faster  than  you  can  advance 
the  average  moral  judgments  of  the  mass,  but  you  can 

30  go  at  least  as  fast  as  that,  and  you  can  see  to  it  that  you 
do  not  lag  behind  the  average  moral  judgments  of  the 
mass.  I  have  in  my  life  dealt  with  all  sorts  and  conditions 
of  men,  and  I  have  found  that  the  flame  of  moral  judg 
ment  burned  just  as  bright  in  the  man  of  humble  life  and 


The  Opinion  of  the  World  105 

limited  experience  as  in  the  scholar  and  the  man  of  af 
fairs.  And  I  would  like  his  voice  always  to  be  heard,  not 
as  a  witness,  not  as  speaking  in  his  own  case,  but  as  if  he 
were  the  voice  of  men  in  general,  in  our  courts  of  justice, 
as  well  as  the  voice  of  the  lawyers,  remembering  what  the  5 
law  has  been.  My  hope  is  that,  being  stirred  to  the  depths 
by  the  extraordinary  circumstances  of  the  time  in  which 
we  live,  we  may  recover  from  those  depths  something 
of  a  renewal  of  that  vision  of  the  law  with  which  men  may 
be  supposed  to  have  started  out  in  the  old  days  of  the  10 
oracles,  who  communed  with  the  intimations  of  divinity. 


THE  POWER  OF  CHRISTIAN  YOUNG  MEN 

[Address  at  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association's  Celebration, 
Pittsburgh,  October  24,  1914.] 

MR.  PRESIDENT,  MR.  PORTER,  LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN: 

I  feel  almost  as  if  I  were  a  truant,  being  away  from 
Washington  to-day,  but  I  thought  that  perhaps  if  I  were 
absent  the  Congress  would  have  the  more  leisure  to  ad- 
5  journ.  I  do  not  ordinarily  open  my  office  at  Washington 
on  Saturday.  Being  a  schoolmaster,  I  am  accustomed  to  a 
Saturday  holiday,  and  I  thought  I  could  not  better  spend 
a  holiday  than  by  showing  at  least  something  of  the  true 
direction  of  my  affections;  for  by  long  association  with 

10  the  men  who  have  worked  for  this  organization  I  can  say 
that  it  has  enlisted  my  deep  affection. 

I  am  interested  in  it  for  various  reasons.  First  of  all,  be 
cause  it  is  an  association  of  young  men.  I  have  had  a 
good  deal  to  do  with  young  men  in  my  time,  and  I  have 

15  formed  an  impression  of  them  which  I  believe  to  be  con 
trary  to  the  general  impression.  They  are  generally 
thought  to  be  arch  radicals.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  they  are 
the  most  conservative  people  I  have  ever  dealt  with.  Go 
to  a  college  community  and  try  to  change  the  least  custom 

20  of  that  little  world  and  find  how  the  conservatives  will  rush 
at  you.  Moreover,  young  men  are  embarrassed  by  having 
inherited  their  fathers'  opinions.  I  have  often  said  that 
the  use  of  a  university  is  to  make  young  gentlemen  as  un 
like  their  fathers  as  possible.  I  do  not  say  that  with  the 

25  least  disrespect  for  the  fathers;  but  every  man  who  is  old 
enough  to  have  a  son  in  college  is  old  enough  to  have  be 
come  very  seriously  immersed  in  some  particular  business 

106 


The   Po\Ver  of  Christian   Young  Men     107 

and  is  almost  certain  to  have  caught  the  point  of  view  of 
that  particular  business.  And  it  is  very  useful  to  his  son 
to  be  taken  out  of  that  narrow  circle,  conducted  to  some 
high  place  where  he  may  see  the  general  map  of  the  world 
and  of  the  interests  of  mankind,  and  there  shown  how  big  5 
the  world  is  and  how  much  of  it  his  father  may  happen  to 
have  forgotten.  It  would  be  worth  while  for  men,  middle- 
aged  and  old,  to  detach  themselves  more  frequently  from 
the  things  that  command  their  daily  attention  and  to 
think  of  the  sweeping  tides  of  humanity.  10 

Therefore  I  am  interested  in  this  association,  because 
it  is  intended  to  bring  young  men  together  before  any 
crust  has  formed  over  them,  before  they  have  been  hard 
ened  to  any  particular  occupation,  before  they  have  caught 
an  inveterate  point  of  view;  while  they  still  have  a  search-  15 
light  that  they  can  swing  and  see  what  it  reveals  of  all  the 
circumstances  of  the  hidden  world. 

I  am  the  more  interested  in  it  because  it  is  an  associa 
tion  of  young  men  who  are  Christians.  I  wonder  if  we 
attach  sufficient  importance  to  Christianity  as  a  mere  20 
instrumentality  in  the  life  of  mankind.  For  one,  I  am 
not  fond  of  thinking  of  Christianity  as  the  means  of  saving 
individual  souls.  I  have  always  been  very  impatient  of 
processes  and  institutions  which  said  that  their  purpose 
was  to  put  every  man  in  the  way  of  developing  his  char-  25 
acter.  My  advice  is:  Do  not  think  about  your  character. 
If  you  will  think  about  what  you  ought  to  do  for  other 
people,  your  character  will  take  care  of  itself.  Character 
Is  a  by-product,  and  any  man  who  devotes  himself  to  its 
cultivation  in  his  own  case  will  become  a  selfish  prig.  30 
The  only  way  your  powers  can  become  great  is  by  exerting 
them  outside  the  circle  of  your  own  narrow,  special,  selfish 
interests.  And  that  is  the  reason  of  Christianity.  Christ 
came  into  the  world  to  save  others,  not  to  save  himself; 


io8  Woodrow  Wilson 

and  no  man  is  a  true  Christian  who  does  not  think  con 
stantly  of  how  he  can  lift  his  brother,  how  he  can  assist 
his  friend,  how  he  can  enlighten  mankind,  how  he  can 
make  virtue  the  rule  of  conduct  in  the  circle  in  which  he 
5  lives.  An  association  merely  of  young  men  might  be  an 
association  that  had  its  energies  put  forth  in  every  direc 
tion,  but  an  association  of  Christian  young  men  is  an 
association  meant  to  put  its  shoulders  under  the  world 
and  lift  it,  so  that  other  men  may  feel  that  they  have 

10  companions  in  bearing  the  weight  and  heat  of  the  day; 
that  other  men  may  know  that  there  are  those  who  care 
for  them,  who  would  go  into  places  of  difficulty  and  danger 
to  rescue  them,  who  regard  themselves  as  their  brother's 
keeper. 

15  And,  then,  I  am  glad  that  it  is  an  association.  Every 
word  of  its  title  means  an  element  of  strength.  Young 
men  are  strong.  Christian  young  men  are  the  strongest 
kind  of  young  men,  and  when  they  associate  themselves 
together  they  have  the  incomparable  strength  of  organiza- 

20  tion.  The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  once  ex 
cited,  perhaps  it  is  not  too  much  to  say,  the  hostility  of 
the  organized  churches  of  the  Christian  world,  because 
the  movement  looked  as  if  it  were  so  non-sectarian,  as  if  it 
were  so  outside  the  ecclesiastical  field,  that  perhaps  it 

25  was  an  effort  to  draw  young  men  away  from  the  churches 
and  to  substitute  this  organization  for  the  great  bodies  of 
Christian  people  who  joined  themselves  in  the  Christian 
denominations.  But  after  a  while  it  appeared  that  it  was 
a  great  instrumentality  that  belonged  to  all  the  churches; 

30  that  it  was  a  common  instrument  for  sending  the  light 
of  Christianity  out  into  the  world  in  its  most  practical 
form,  drawing  young  men  who  were  strangers  into  places 
where  they  could  have  companionship  that  stimulated 
them  and  suggestions  that  kept  them  straight  and  occupa- 


The  Power  of  Christian  Young  Men     109 

tions  that  amused  them  without  vicious  practice;  and 
then,  by  surrounding  themselves  with  an  atmosphere  of 
purity  and  of  simplicity  of  life,  catch  something  of  a 
glimpse  of  the  great  ideal  which  Christ  lifted  when  He 
was  elevated  upon  the  cross.  5 

I  remember  hearing  a  very  wise  man  say  once,  a  man 
grown  old  in  the  service  of  a  great  church,  that  he  had 
never  taught  his  son  religion  dogmatically  at  any  time; 
that  he  and  the  boy's  mother  had  agreed  that  if  the  at 
mosphere  of  that  home  did  not  make  a  Christian  of  the  10 
boy,  nothing  that  they  could  say  would  make  a  Christian 
of  him.  They  knew  that  Christianity  was  catching,  and 
if  they  did  not  have  it,  it  would  not  be  communicated. 
If  they  did  have  it,  it  would  penetrate  while  the  boy 
slept,  almost;  while  he  was  unconscious  of  the  sweet  in-  15 
fluences  that  were  about  him,  while  he  reckoned  nothing 
of  instruction,  but  merely  breathed  into  his  lungs  the 
wholesome  air  of  a  Christian  home.  That  is  the  principle 
of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association — to  make  a 
place  where  the  atmosphere  makes  great  ideals  contagious.  20 
That  is  the  reason  that  I  said,  though  I  had  forgotten 
that  I  said  it,  what  is  quoted  on  the  outer  page  of  the  pro 
gram — that  you  can  test  a  modern  community  by  the 
degree  of  its  interest  in  its  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso 
ciation.  You  can  test  whether  it  knows  what  road  it  25 
wants  to  travel  or  not.  You  can  test  whether  it  is  deeply 
interested  in  the  spiritual  and  essential  prosperity  of  its 
rising  generation.  I  know  of  no  test  that  can  be  more 
conclusively  put  to  a  community  than  that. 

I  want  to  suggest  to  the  young  men  of  this  association  30 
that  it  is  the  duty  of  young  men  not  only  to  combine  for 
the  things  that  are  good,  but  to  combine  in  a  militant 
spirit.    There  is  a  fine  passage  in  one  of  Milton's  prose 
writings  which  I  am  sorry  to  say  I  cannot  quote,  but 


no  Woodrow  Wilson 

the  meaning  of  which  I  can  give  you,  and  it  is  worth 
hearing.*  He  says  that  he  has  no  patience  with  a  cloistered 
virtue  that  does  not  go  out  and  seek  its  adversary.  Ah, 
how  tired  I  am  of  the  men  who  are  merely  on  the  defen- 

5  sive,  who  hedge  themselves  in,  who  perhaps  enlarge  the 
hedge  enough  to  include  their  little  family  circle  and 
ward  off  all  the  evil  influences  of  the  world  from  that 
loved  and  hallowed  group.  How  tired  I  am  of  the  men 
whose  virtue  is  selfish  because  it  is  merely  self-protective! 

10  And  how  much  I  wish  that  men  by  the  hundred  thousand 
might  volunteer  to  go  out  and  seek  an  adversary  and 
subdue  him! 

I  have  had  the  fortune  to  take  part  in  affairs  of  a  con 
siderable  variety  of  sorts,  and  I  have  tried  to  hate  as  few 

15  persons  as  possible,  but  there  is  an  exquisite  combination 
of  contempt  and  hate  that  I  have  for  a  particular  kind  of 
person,  and  that  is  the  moral  coward.  I  wish  we  could 
give  all  our  cowards  a  perpetual  vacation.  Let  them  go 
off  and  sit  on  the  side  lines  and  see  us  play  the  game;  and 

20  put  them  off  the  field  if  they  interfere  with  the  game.  They 
do  nothing  but  harm,  and  they  do  it  by  that  most  subtle 
and  fatal  thing  of  all,  that  of  taking  the  momentum  and 
the  spirit  and  the  forward  dash  out  of  things.  A  man 
who  is  virtuous  and  a  coward  has  no  marketable  virtue 

25  about  him.  The  virtue,  I  repeat,  which  is  merely  self- 
defensive  is  not  serviceable  even,  I  suspect,  to  himself. 
For  how  a  man  can  swallow  and  not  taste  bad  when 
he  is  a  coward  and  thinking  only  of  himself  I  cannot 
imagine. 

3°      Be  militant!     Be  an  organization  that  is  going  to  do 

*  In  the  Areopagitica:  "I  cannot  praise  a  fugitive  and  cloistered 
virtue,  unexercised  and  unbreathed,  that  never  sallies  out  and  sees 
her  adversary,  but  slinks  out  of  the  race,  where  that  immortal  garland 
is  to  be  run  for,  not  without  dust  and  heat." 


The  Power  of  Christian  Young  Men     III 

things!  If  you  can  find  older  men  who  will  give  you 
countenance  and  acceptable  leadership,  follow  them;  but 
if  you  cannot,  organize  separately  and  dispense  with 
them.  There  are  only  two  sorts  of  men  worth  associating 
with  when  something  is  to  be  done.  Those  are  young  5 
men  and  men  who  never  grow  old.  Now,  if  you  find  men 
who  have  grown  old,  about  whom  the  crust  has  hardened, 
whose  hinges  are  stiff,  whose  minds  always  have  their 
eye  over  the  shoulder  thinking  of  things  as  they  were  done, 
do  not  have  anything  to  do  with  them.  It  would  not  be  10 
Christian  to  exclude  them  from  your  organization,  but 
merely  use  them  to  pad  the  roll.  If  you  can  find  older 
men  who  will  lead  you  acceptably  and  keep  you  in  counte 
nance,  I  am  bound  as  an  older  man  to  advise  you  to  follow 
them.  But  suit  yourselves.  Do  not  follow  people  that  15 
stand  still.  Just  remind  them  that  this  is  not  a  statical 
proposition;  it  is  a  movement,  and  if  they  cannot  get  a 
move  on  them  they  are  not  serviceable. 

Life,  gentlemen — the  life  of  society,  the  life  of  the 
world — has  constantly  to  be  fed  from  the  bottom.  It  has  20 
to  be  fed  by  those  great  sources  of  strength  which  are 
constantly  rising  in  new  generations.  Red  blood  has  to 
be  pumped  into  it.  New  fiber  has  to  be  supplied.  That 
is  the  reason  I  have  always  said  that  I  believed  in  popular 
institutions.  If  you  can  guess  beforehand  whom  your  25 
rulers  are  going  to  be,  you  can  guess  with  a  very  great 
certainty  that  most  of  them  will  not  be  fit  to  rule.  The 
beauty  of  popular  institutions  is  that  you  do  not  know 
where  the  man  is  going  to  come  from,  and  you  do  not  care 
so  he  is  the  right  man.  You  do  not  know  whether  he  30 
will  come  from  the  avenue  or  from  the  alley.  You  do 
not  know  whether  he  will  come  from  the  city  or  the  farm. 
You  do  not  know  whether  you  will  ever  have  heard  that 
name  before  or  not.  Therefore  you  do  not  limit  at  any 


112  Woodrow  Wilson 

point  your  supply  of  new  strength.  You  do  not  say  it 
has  got  to  come  through  the  blood  of  a  particular  family 
or  through  the  processes  of  a  particular  training,  or  by 
anything  except  the  native  impulse  and  genius  of  the 
5  man  himself.  The  humblest  hovel,  therefore,  may  pro 
duce  you  your  greatest  man.  A  very  humble  hovel  did 
produce  you  one  of  your  greatest  men.  That  is  the  process 
of  life,  this  constant  surging  up  of  the  new  strength  of 
unnamed,  unrecognized,  uncatalogued  men  who  are  just 

10  getting  into  the  running,  who  are  just  coming  up  from 
the  masses  of  the  unrecognized  multitude.  You  do  not 
know  when  you  will  see  above  the  level  masses  of  the 
crowd  some  great  stature  lifted  head  and  shoulders  above 
the  rest,  shouldering  its  way,  not  violently  but  gently, 

15  to  the  front  and  saying,  "Here  am  I;  follow  me."    And 

his  voice  will  be  your  voice,  his  thought  will  be  your 

thought,  and  you  will  follow  him  as  if  you  were  following 

the  best  things  in  yourselves. 

When  I  think  of  an  association  of  Christian  young 

20  men  I  wonder  that  it  has  not  already  turned  the  world 
upside  down.  I  wonder,  not  that  it  has  done  so  much, 
for  it  has  done  a  great  deal,  but  that  it  has  done  so  little; 
and  I  can  only  conjecture  that  it  does  not  realize  its  own 
strength.  I  can  only  imagine  that  it  has  not  yet  got  its 

25  pace.  I  wish  I  could  believe,  and  I  do  believe,  that  at 
seventy  it  is  just  reaching  its  majority,  and  that  from  this 
time  on  a  dream  greater  even  than  George  Williams  * 
ever  dreamed  will  be  realized  in  the  great  accumulating 
momentum  of  Christian  men  throughout  the  world.  For, 

30  gentlemen,  this  is  an  age  in  which  the  principles  of  men 
who  utter  public  opinion  dominate  the  world.  It  makes 
no  difference  what  is  done  for  the  time  being.  After  the 

*  Sir   George   Williams,    1821-1905,    an    English   philanthropist, 
founder  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association. 


The  Power  of  Christian  Young  Men     113 

struggle  is  over  the  jury  will  sit,  and  nobody  can  corrupt 
that  jury. 

At  one  time  I  tried  to  write  history.  I  did  not  know 
enough  to  write  it,  but  I  knew  from  experience  how  hard 
it  was  to  find  an  historian  out,  and  I  trusted  I  would  not  5 
be  found  out.  I  used  to  have  this  comfortable  thought 
as  I  saw  men  struggling  in  the  public  arena.  I  used  to 
think  to  myself,  "This  is  all  very  well  and  very  interesting. 
You  probably  assess  yourself  in  such  and  such  a  way. 
Those  who  are  your  partisans  assess  you  thus  and  so.  10 
Those  who  are  your  opponents  urge  a  different  verdict. 
But  it  does  not  make  very  much  difference,  because  after 
you  are  dead  and  gone  some  quiet  historian  will  sit  in  a 
secluded  room  and  tell  mankind  for  the  rest  of  time  just 
what  to  think  about  you,  and  his  verdict,  not  the  verdict  15 
of  your  partisans  and  not  the  verdict  of  your  opponents, 
will  be  the  verdict  of  posterity."  I  say  that  I  used  to  say 
that  to  myself.  It  very  largely  was  not  so.  And  yet  it 
was  true  in  this  sense:  If  the  historian  really  speaks  the 
judgment  of  the  succeeding  generation,  then  he  really  20 
speaks  the  judgment  also  of  the  generations  that  succeed 
it,  and  his  assessment,  made  without  the  passion  of  the 
time,  made  without  partisan  feeling  in  the  matter — in 
other  circumstances,  when  the  air  is  cool — is  the  judgment 
of  mankind  upon  your  actions.  25 

Now,  is  it  not  very  important  that  we  who  shall  con 
stitute  a  portion  of  the  jury  should  get  our  best  judgments 
to  work  and  base  them  upon  Christian  forbearance  and 
Christian  principles,  upon  the  idea  that  it  is  impossible  by 
sophistication  to  establish  that  a  thing  that  is  wrong  is  30 
right?  And  yet,  while  we  are  going  to  judge  with  the 
absolute  standard  of  righteousness,  we  are  going  to  judge 
with  Christian  feeling,  being  men  of  a  like  sort  ourselves, 
suffering  the  same  temptations,  having  the  same  weak- 


J 


114  Woodrow  Wilson 

nesses,  knowing  the  same  passions;  and  while  we  do  not 
condemn,  we  are  going  to  seek  to  say  and  to  live  the  truth. 
What  I  am  hoping  for  is  that  these  seventy  years  have  just 
been  a  running  start,  and  that  now  there  will  be  a  great 
rush  of  Christian  principle  upon  the  strongholds  of  evil  and 
of  wrong  in  the  world.  Those  strongholds  are  not  as 
strong  as  they  look.  Almost  every  vicious  man  is  afraid  of 
society,  and  if  you  once  open  the  door  where  he  is,  he  will 
run.  All  you  have  to  do  is  to  fight,  not  with  cannon  but 
with  light. 

May  I  illustrate  it  in  this  way?  The  Government  of  the 
United  States  has  just  succeeded  in  concluding  a  large 
number  of  treaties  with  the  leading  nations  of  the  world, 
the  sum  and  substance  of  which  is  this,  that  whenever  any 

15  trouble  arises  the  light  shall  shine  on  it  for  a  year  before 
anything  is  done;  and  my  prediction  is  that  after  the 
light  has  shone  on  it  for  a  year  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  do 
anything;  that  after  we  know  what  happened,  then  we  will 
know  who  was  right  and  who  was  wrong.  I  believe  that 

20  light  is  the  greatest  sanitary  influence  in  the  world.  That, 
I  suppose,  is  scientific  commonplace,  because  if  you  want 
to  make  a  place  wholesome  the  best  instrument  you  can 
use  is  the  sun;  to  let  his  rays  in,  let  him  search  out  all  the 
miasma  that  may  lurk  there.  Sp^  with  moral  light :  It  is  the 

25  most  wholesome  and  rectifying,  as  well  as  me  most  re 
vealing,  thing  in  the  world,  provided  it  be  genuine  moral 
light;  not  the  light  of  inquisitiveness,  not  the  light  of  the 
man  who  likes  to  turn  up  ugly  things,  not  the  light  of  the 
man  who  disturbs  what  is  corrupt  for  the  mere  sake  of  the 

30  sensation  that  he  creates  by  disturbing  it,  but  the  moral 

light,  the  light  of  the  man  who  discloses  it  in  order  that  all 

the  sweet  influences  of  the  world  may  go  in  and  make  it 

better. 

That,   in   my  judgment,   is   what   the   Young   Men's 


The  Power  of  Christian  Young  Men     115 

Christian  Association  can  do.  It  can  point  out  to  its 
members  the  things  that  are  wrong.  It  can  guide  the  feet 
of  those  who  are  going  astray;  and  when  its  members  have 
realized  the  power  of  the  Christian  principle,  then  they 
will  not  be  men  if  they  do  not  unite  to  see  that  the  rest  of 
the  world  experiences  the  same  emancipation  and  reaches 
the  same  happiness  of  release. 

I  believe  in  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  be- 
caust  I  believe  in  the  progress  of  moral  ideas  in  the  world; 
and  1  do  not  know  thSTTSHTTuiv  of  anything  else.  Wlu-n 
you  arc  after  something  and  have  formulated  it  and  have 
done  the  very  best  thing  you  know  how  to  do  you  have 
got  to  be  sure  for  the  time  being  that  that  is  the  thing  to 
do.  But  you  are  a  fool  if  in  the  back  of  your  head  you  do 
not  know  it  is  possible  that  you  are  mistaken.  All  that  15 
you  can  claim  is  that  that  is  the  thing  as  you  see  it  now  and 
that  you  cannot  stand  still;  that  you  must  push  forward 
the  things  that  are  right.  It  may  turn  out  that  you  made 
mistakes,  but  what  you  do  know  is  your  direction,  and 
you  are  sure  you  are  moving  in  that  way.  I  was  once  a  col 
lege  reformer,  until  discouraged,  and  I  remember  a  class 
mate  of  mine  saying,  "Why,  man,  can't  you  let  anything 
alone?  "  I  said,  "I  let  everything  alone  that  you  can  show 
me  is  not  itself  moving  in  the  wrong  direction,  but  I  am 
not  going  to  let  those  things  alone  that  I  see  are  going 
downhill";  and  I  borrowed  this  illustration  from  an 
ingenious  writer.  He  says,  "If  you  have  a  post  that  is- 
painted  white  and  want  to  keep  it  white,  you  cannot  let  it 
alone;  and  if  anybody  says  to  you,  'Why  don't  you  let  that 
post  alone/  you  will  say,  'Because  I  want  it  to  stay  white,  30 
and  therefore  I  have  got  to  paint  it  at  least  every  second 
year.'"  There  isn't  anything  in  this  world  that  will  not 
change  if  you  absolutely  let  it  alone,  and  therefore  you 
have  constantly  to  be  attending  to  it  to  see  that  it  is  being 


Ii6  Woodrow  Wilson 

taken  care  of  in  the  right  way  and  that,  if  it  is  part  of  the 
motive  force  of  the  world,  it  is  moving  in  the  right  direc 
tion. 

That  means  that  eternal  vigilance  is  the  price,  not  only 
5  of  liberty,  but  of  a  great  many  other  things.  It  is  the 
price  of  everything  that  is  good.  It  is  the  price  of  one's  own 
soul.  It  is  the  price  of  the  souls  of  the  people  you  love;  and 
when  it  comes  down  to  the  final  reckoning  you  have  a 
standard  that  is  immutable.  What  shall  a  man  give  in 

10  exchange  for  his  own  soul?  Will  he  sell  that?  Will  he 
consent  to  see  another  man  sell  his  soul?  Will  he  consent 
to  see  the  conditions  of  his  community  such  that  men's 
souls  are  debauched  and  trodden  underfoot  in  the  mire? 
What  shall  he  give  in  exchange  for  his  own  soul,  or  any 
'other  man's  soul?  And  since  the  world,  the  world  of 
affairs,  the  world  of  society,  is  nothing  less  and  nothing 
more  than  all  of  us  put  together,  it  is  a  great  enterprise  for 
the  salvation  of  the  soul  in  this  world  as  well  as  in  the  next. 
There  is  a  text  in  Scripture  that  has  always  interested  me 
profoundly.  It  says  godliness  is  profitable  in  this  life  as 
well  as  in  the  life  that  is  to  come;  and  if  you  do  not  start  it 
in  this  life,  it  will  not  reach  the  life  that  is  to  come.  Your 
measurements,  your  directions,  your  whole  momentum, 
have  to  be  established  before  you  reach  the  next  world. 

25  This  world  is  intended  as  the  place  in  which  we  shall  show 
that  we  know  how  to  grow  in  the  stature  of  manliness  and 
i  of  righteousness. 

I  have  come  here  to  bid  Godspeed  to  the  great  work  of 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association.    I  love  to  think 

30  of  the  gathering  force  of  such  things  as  this  in  the  genera 
tions  to  come.  If  a  man  had  to  measure  the  accomplish 
ments  of  society,  the  progress  of  reform,  the  speed  of  the 
world's  betterment,  by  the  few  little  things  that  happened 
in  his  own  life,  by  the  trifling  things  that  he  can  contribute 


The   Power  of  Christian  Young  Men     117 

to  accomplish,  he  would  indeed  feel  that  the  cost  was  much 
greater  than  the  result.  But  no  man  can  look  at  the  past 
of  the  history  of  this  world  without  seeing  a  vision  of  the 
future  of  the  history  of  this  world;  and  when  you  think  of 
the  accumulated  moral  forces  that  have  made  one  age  5 
better  than  another  age  in  the  progress  of  mankind,  then 
you  can  open  your  eyes  to  the  vision.  You  can  see  that 
age  by  age,  though  with  a  blind  struggle  in  the  dust  of  the 
road,  though  often  mistaking  the  path  and  losing  its  way 
in  the  mire,  mankind  is  yet — sometimes  with  bloody  hands  10 
and  battered  knees — nevertheless  struggling  step  after 
step  up  the  slow  stages  to  the  day  when  he  shall  live  in  the 
full  light  which  shines  upon  the  uplands,  where  all  the 
light  that  illumines  mankind  shines  direct  from  the  face  of 
God.  15 


ANNUAL  ADDRESS  TO  CONGRESS 

[Delivered  at  a  joint  session  of  the  two  Houses  of  Congress,  De 
cember  8,  1914.] 

GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  CONGRESS: 

The  session  upon  which  you  are  now  entering  will  be  the 
closing  session  of  the  Sixty- third  Congress,  a  Congress,  I 
venture  to  say,  which  will  long  be  remembered  for  the 

5  great  body  of  thoughtful  and  constructive  work  which  it 
has  done,  in  loyal  response  to  the  thought  and  needs  of  the 
country.  I  should  like  in  this  address  to  review  the 
notable  record  and  try  to  make  adequate  assessment  of  it; 
but  no  doubt  we  stand  too  near  the  work  that  has  been 

10  done  and  are  ourselves  too  much  part  of  it  to  play  the 
part  of  historians  toward  it. 

Our  program  of  legislation  with  regard  to  the  regulation 
of  business  is  now  virtually  complete.  It  has  been  put 
forth,  as  we  intended,  as  a  whole,  and  leaves  no  conjecture 

15  as  to  what  is  to  follow.  The  road  at  last  lies  clear  and  firm 
before  business.  It  is  a  road  which  it  can  travel  without 
fear  or  embarrassment.  It  is  the  road  to  ungrudged,  un 
clouded  success.  In  it  every  honest  man,  every  man  who 
believes  that  the  public  interest  is  part  of  his  own  interest, 

20  may  walk  with  perfect  confidence. 

Moreover,  our  thoughts  are  now  more  of  the  future 
than  of  the  past.  While  we  have  worked  at  our  tasks  of 
peace  the  circumstances  of  the  whole  age  have  been  altered 
by  war.  What  we  have  done  for  our  own  land  and  our  own 

25  people  we  did  with  the  best  that  was  in  us,  whether  of 
character  or  of  intelligence,  with  sober  enthusiasm  and  a 
confidence  in  the  principles  upon  which  we  were  acting 

118 


TO 

/ 


Annual  Address  to  Congress  119 

which  sustained  us  at  every  step  of  the  difficult  undertak 
ing;  but  it  is  done.  It  has  passed  from  our  hands.  It  is 
now  an  established  part  of  the  legislation  of  the  country. 
Its  usefulness,  its  effects  will  disclose  themselves  in  expe 
rience.  What  chiefly  strikes  us  now,  as  we  look  about  us 
during  these  closing  days  of  a  year  which  will  be  forever 
memorable  in  the  history  of  the  world,  is  that  we  face  new 
tasks,  have  been  facing  them  these  six  months,  must  face 
them  in  the  months  to  come, — face  them  without  partisan 
feeling,  like  men  who  have  forgotten  everything  but  a  TO 
common  duty  and  the  fact  that  we  are  representatives  of  a 
great  people  whose  thought  is  not  of  us  but  of  what 
America  owes  to  herself  and  to  all  mankind  in  such  circum 
stances  as  these  upon  which  we  look  amazed  and  anxious. 

War  has  interrupted  the  means  of  trade  not  only  but  15 
also  the  processes  of  production.  In  Europe  it  is  destroy 
ing  men  and  resources  wholesale  and  upon  a  scale  unprec 
edented  and  appalling.  There  is  reason  to  fear  that  the 
time  is  near,  if  it  be  not  already  at  hand,  when  several  of 
the  countries  of  Europe  will  find  it  difficult  to  do  for  their  20 
people  what  they  have  hitherto  been  always  easily  able 
to  do, — many  essential  and  fundamental  things.  At  any 
rate,  they  will  need  our  help  and  our  manifold  services  as 
they  have  never  needed  them  before;  and  we  should  be 
ready,  more  fit  and  ready  than  we  have  ever  been.  25 

It  is  of  equal  consequence  that  the  nations  whom  Europe 
has  usually  supplied  with  innumerable  articles  of  manu 
facture  and  commerce  of  which  they  are  in  constant  need 
and  without  which  their  economic  development  halts 
and  stands  still  can  now  get  only  a  small  part  of  what  they  30 
formerly  imported  and  eagerly  look  to  us  to  supply  their  all 
but  empty  markets.  This  is  particularly  true  of  our  own 
neighbors,  the  States,  great  and  small,  of  Central  and 
South  America.  Their  lines  of  trade  have  hitherto  run 


I2O  Woodrow  Wilson 

chiefly  athwart  the  seas,  not  to  our  ports  but  to  the  ports 
of  Great  Britain  and  of  the  older  continent  of  Europe. 
I  do  not  stop  to  inquire  why,  or  to  make  any  comment  on 
probable  causes.  What  interests  us  just  now  is  not  the 
5  explanation  but  the  fact,  and  our  duty  and  opportunity 
in  the  presence  of  it.  Here  are  markets  which  we  must 
supply,  and  we  must  find  the  means  of  action.  The  United 
States,  this  great  people  for  whom  we  speak  and  act7 
should  be  ready,  as  never  before,  to  serve  itself  and  to 

i  serve  mankind;  ready  with  its  resources,  its  energies,  its 
forces  of  production,  and  its  means  of  distribution. 

It  is  a  very  practical  matter,  a  matter  of  ways  and 
means.  We  have  the  resources,  but  are  we  fully  ready  to 
use  them?  And,  if  we  can  make  ready  what  we  have,  have 

15  we  the  means  at  hand  to  distribute  it?  We  are  not  fully 
ready;  neither  have  we  the  means  of  distribution.  We 
are  willing,  but  we  are  not  fully  able.  We  have  the  wish 
to  serve  and  to  serve  greatly,  generously;  but  we  are  not 
prepared  as  we  should  be.  We  are  not  ready  to  mobilize 

20  our  resources  at  once.  We  are  not  prepared  to  use  them 
immediately  and  at  their  best,  without  delay  and  without 
waste. 

To  speak  plainly,  we  have  grossly  erred  in  the  way  in 
which  we  have  stunted  and  hindered  the  development  of 

25  our  merchant  marine.  And  now,  when  we  need  ships,  we 
have  not  got  them.  We  have  year  after  year  debated, 
without  end  or  conclusion,  the  best  policy  to  pursue  with 
regard  to  the  use  of  the  ores  and  forests  and  water  powers 
of  our  national  domain  in  the  rich  States  of  the  West, 

30  when  we  should  have  acted;  and  they  are  still  locked  up. 
The  key  is  still  turned  upon  them,  the  door  shut  fast  at 
which  thousands  of  vigorous  men,  full  of  initiative,  knock 
clamorously  for  admittance.  The  water  power  of  our 
navigable  streams  outside  the  national  domain  also,  even 


Annual  Address  to  Congress  121 

in  the  eastern  States,  where  we  have  worked  and  planned 
for  generations,  is  still  not  used  as  it  might  be,  because  we 
will  and  we  won't;  because  the  laws  we  have  made  do  not 
intelligently  balance  encouragement  against  restraint. 
We  withhold  by  regulation.  5 

I  have  come  to  ask  you  to  remedy  and  correct  these 
mistakes  and  omissions,  even  at  this  short  session  of  a 
Congress  which  would  certainly  seem  to  have  done  all 
the  work  that  could  reasonably  be  expected  of  it.  The 
time  and  the  circumstances  are  extraordinary,  and  so  10 
must  our  efforts  be  also. 

Fortunately,  two  great  measures,  finely  conceived,  the 
one  to  unlock,  with  proper  safeguards,  the  resources  of  the 
national  domain,  the  other  to  encourage  the  use  of  the 
navigable  waters  outside  that  domain  for  the  generation  15 
of  power,  have  already  passed  the  House  of  Representa 
tives  and  are  ready  for  immediate  consideration  and  action 
by  the  Senate.  With  the  deepest  earnestness  I  urge  their 
prompt  passage.  In  them  both  we  turn  our  backs  upon 
hesitation  and  makeshift  and  formulate  a  genuine  policy  20 
of  use  and  conservation,  in  the  best  sense  of  those  words. 
We  owe  the  one  measure  not  only  to  the  people  of  that 
great  western  country  for  whose  free  and  systematic  de 
velopment,  as  it  seems  to  me,  our  legislation  has  done  so 
little,  but  also  to  the  people  of  the  Nation  as  a  whole;  and  25 
we  as  clearly  owe  the  other  in  fulfillment  of  our  repeated 
promises  that  the  water  power  of  the  country  should  in 
fact  as  well  as  in  name  be  put  at  the  disposal  of  great  in 
dustries  which  can  make  economical  and  profitable  use 
of  it,  the  rights  of  the  public  being  adequately  guarded  30 
the  while,  and  monopoly  in  the  use  prevented.  To  have 
begun  such  measures  and  not  completed  them  would  in 
deed  mar  the  record  of  this  great  Congress  very  seriously. 
I  hope  and  confidently  believe  that  they  will  be  completed. 


Woodrow  Wilson 

And  there  is  another  great  piece  of  legislation  which 
f awaits  and  should  receive  the  sanction  of  the  Senate:  I 
mean  the  bill  which  gives  a  larger  measure  of  self-govern 
ment  to  the  people  of  the  Philippines.  How  better,  in 
this  time  of  anxious  questioning  and  perplexed  policy, 
could  we  show  our  confidence  in  the  principles  of  liberty, 
as  the  source  as  well  as  the  expression  of  life,  how  better 
could  we  demonstrate  our  own  self-possession  and  stead 
fastness  in  the  courses  of  justice  and  disinterestedness 

10  than  by  thus  going  calmly  forward  to  fulfill  our  promises 
to  a  dependent  people,  who  will  now  look  more  anxiously 
than  ever  to  see  whether  we  have  indeed  the  liberality,  the 
unselfishness,  the  courage,  the  faith  we  have  boasted  and 
professed.  I  cannot  believe  that  the  Senate  will  let  this 

,15  great  measure  of  constructive  justice  await  the  action  of 
another  Congress.  Its  passage  would  nobly  crown  the 
record  of  these  two  years  of  memorable  labor. 

But  I  think  that  you  will  agree  with  me  that  this  does 
not  complete  the  toll  of  our  duty.  How  are  we  to  carry 
our  goods  to  the  empty  markets  of  which  I  have  spoken 
if  we  have  not  the  ships?  How  are  we  to  build  up  a  great 
trade  if  we  have  not  the  certain  and  constant  means  of 
transportation  upon  which  all  profitable  and  useful  com 
merce  depends?  And  how  are  we  to  get  the  ships  if  we 

25  wait  for  the  trade  to  develop  without  them?  To  correct 
the  many  mistakes  by  which  we  have  discouraged  and  all 
but  destroyed  the  merchant  marine  of  the  country,  to 
retrace  the  steps  by  which  we  have,  it  seems  almost  de 
liberately,  withdrawn  our  flag  from  the  seas,  except  where, 

30  here  and  there,  a  ship  of  war  is  bidden  carry  it  or  some 
wandering  yacht  displays  it,  would  take  a  long  time  and 
involve  many  detailed  items  of  legislation,  and  the  trade 
which  we  ought 'immediately  to  handle  would  disappear 
or  find  other  channels  while  we  debated  the  items. 


Annual  Address  to  Congress  123 

The  case  is  not  unlike  that  which  confronted  us  when 
our  own  continent  was  to  be  opened  up  to  settlement  and 
industry,  and  we  needed  long  lines  of  railway,  extended 
means  of  transportation  prepared  beforehand,  if  develop 
ment  was  not  to  lag  intolerably  and  wait  interminably.  5 
We  lavishly  subsidized  the  building  of  transcontinental 
railroads.  We  look  back  upon  that  with  regret  now,  be 
cause  the  subsidies  led  to  many  scandals  of  which  we  are 
ashamed;  but  we  know  that  the  railroads  had  to  be  built, 
and  if  we  had  it  to  do  over  again  we  should  of  course  build  10 
them,  but  in  another  way.  Therefore  I  propose  another 
way  of  providing  the  means  of  transportation,  which 
must  precede,  not  tardily  follow,  the  development  of  our 
trade  with  our  neighbor  states  of  America.  It  may  seem 
a  reversal  of  the  natural  order  of  things,  but  it  is  true,  15 
that  the  routes  of  trade  must  be  actually  opened — by 
many  ships  and  regular  sailings  and  moderate  charges — 
before  streams  of  merchandise  will  flow  freely  and  profit 
ably  through  them. 

Hence  the  pending  shipping  bill,  discussed  at  the  last  20 
session  but  as  yet  passed  by  neither  House.    In  my  judg 
ment  such  legislation  is  imperatively  needed  and  cannot 
wisely  be  postponed.    The  Government  must  open  these 
gates  of  trade,  and  open  them  wide;  open  them  before  it 
is  altogether  profitable  to  open  them,  or  altogether  reason-  25 
able  to  ask  private  capital  to  open  them  at  a  venture.    It 
is  not  a  question  of  the  Government  monopolizing  the 
field.    It  should  take  action  to  make  it  certain  that  trans 
portation  at  reasonable  rates  will  be  promptly  provided, 
even  where  the  carriage  is  not  at  first  profitable;  and  then,  30 
when  the  carriage  has  become  sufficiently  profitable  to 
attract  and  engage  private  capital,  and  engage  it  in  abun 
dance,  the  Government  ought  to  withdraw.    I  very  earn 
estly  hope  that  the  Congress  will  be  of  this  opinion,  and 


124  Woodrow  Wilson 

that  both  Houses  will  adopt  this  exceedingly  important 
bill. 

The  great  subject  of  rural  credits  still  remains  to  be 
dealt  with,  and  it  is  a  matter  of  deep  regret  that  the  diffi- 
5  culties  of  the  subject  have  seemed  to  render  it  impossible 
to  complete  a  bill  for  passage  at  this  session.  But  it  can 
not  be  perfected  yet,  and  therefore  there  are  no  other 
constructive  measures  the  necessity  for  which  I  will  at 
this  time  call  your  attention  to;  but  I  would  be  negligent 

10  of  a  very  manifest  duty  were  I  not  to  call  the  attention  of 
the  Senate  to  the  fact  that  the  proposed  convention  for 
safety  at  sea  awaits  its  confirmation  and  that  the  limit 
fixed  in  the  convention  itself  for  its  acceptance  is  the  last 
day  of  the  present  month.  The  conference  in  which  this 

15  convention  originated  was  called  by  the  United  States; 
the  representatives  of  the  United  States  played  a  very 
influential  part  indeed  in  framing  the  provisions  of  the 
proposed  convention;  and  those  provisions  are  in  them 
selves  for  the  most  part  admirable.  It  would  hardly  be 

20  consistent  with  the  part  we  have  played  in  the  whole 
matter  to  let  it  drop  and  go  by  the  board  as  if  forgotten 
and  neglected.  It  was  ratified  in  May  last  by  the  German 
Government  and  in  August  by  the  Parliament  of  Great 
Britain.  It  marks  a  most  hopeful  and  decided  advance 

25  in  international  civilization.  We  should  show  our  earnest 
good  faith  in  a  great  matter  by  adding  our  own  acceptance 
of  it. 

There  is  another  matter  of  which  I  must  make  special 
mention,  if  I  am  to  discharge  my  conscience,  lest  it  should 

30  escape  your  attention.  It  may  seem  a  very  small  thing. 
It  affects  only  a  single  item  of  appropriation.  But  many 
human  lives  and  many  great  enterprises  hang  upon  it. 
It  is  the  matter  of  making  adequate  provision  for  the 
survey  and  charting  of  our  coasts.  It  is  immediately 


Annual  Address  to  Congress  125 

pressing  and  exigent  in  connection  with  the  immense 
coast  line  of  Alaska,  a  coast  line  greater  than  that  of  the 
United  States  themselves,  though  it  is  also  very  important 
indeed  with  regard  to  the  older  coasts  of  the  continent. 
We  cannot  use  our  great  Alaskan  domain,  ships  will  not  5 
ply  thither,  if  those  coasts  and  their  many  hidden  dangers 
are  not  thoroughly  surveyed  and  charted.  The  work  is 
incomplete  at  almost  every  point.  Ships  and  lives  have 
been  lost  in  threading  what  were  supposed  to  be  well- 
known  main  channels.  We  have  not  provided  adequate  10 
vessels  or  adequate  machinery  for  the  survey  and  chart 
ing.  We  have  used  old  vessels  that  were  not  big  enough 
or  strong  enough  and  which  were  so  nearly  unseaworthy 
that  our  inspectors  would  not  have  allowed  private  owners 
to  send  them  to  sea.  This  is  a  matter  which,  as  I  have  said,  15 
seems  small,  but  is  in  reality  very  great.  Its  importance 
has  only  to  be  looked  into  to  be  appreciated. 

Before  I  close  may  I  say  a  few  words  upon  two  topics, 
much  discussed  out  of  doors,  upon  which  it  is  highly  im 
portant  that  our  judgments  should  be  clear,  definite,  and  20 
steadfast? 

One  of  these  is  economy  in  government  expenditures. 
The  duty  of  economy  is  not  debatable.  It  is  manifest  and 
imperative.  In  the  appropriations  we  pass  we  are  spend 
ing  the  money  of  the  great  people  whose  servants  we  25 
are, — not  our  own.  We  are  trustees  and  responsible 
stewards  in  the  spending.  The  only  thing  debatable  and 
upon  which  we  should  be  careful  to  make  our  thought 
and  purpose  clear  is  the  kind  of  economy  demanded  of  us. 
I  assert  with  the  greatest  confidence  that  the  people  of  30 
the  United  States  are  not  jealous  of  the  amount  their 
Government  costs  if  they  are  sure  that  they  get  what  they 
need  and  desire  for  the  outlay,  that  the  money  is  being 
spent  for  objects  of  which  they  approve,  and  that  it  is 


126  Woodrow  Wilson 

being    applied  with   good   business  sense   and   manage 
ment. 

Governments  grow,  piecemeal,  both  in  their  tasks  and 
in  the  means  by  which  those  tasks  are  to  be  performed, 
5  and  very  few  Governments  are  organized,  I  venture  to 
say,  as  wise  and  experienced  business  men  would  organize 
them  if  they  had  a  clean  sheet  of  paper  to  write  upon. 
Certainly  the  Government  of  the  United  States  is  not. 
I  think  that  it  is  generally  agreed  that  there  should  be  a 

10  systematic  reorganization  and  reassembling  of  its  parts 
so  as  to  secure  greater  efficiency  and  effect  considerable 
savings  in  expense.  But  the  amount  of  money  saved  in 
that  way  would,  I  believe,  though  no  doubt  considerable 
in  itself,  running,  it  may  be,  into  the  millions,  be  relatively 

15  small, — small,  I  mean,  in  proportion  to  the  total  neces 
sary  outlays  of  the  Government.  It  would  be  thoroughly 
worth  effecting,  as  every  saving  would,  great  or  small. 
Our  duty  is  not  altered  by  the  scale  of  the  saving.  But 
my  point  is  that  the  people  of  the  United  States  do  not 

20  wish  to  curtail  the  activities  of  this  Government;  they 
wish,  rather,  to  enlarge  them;  and  with  every  enlargement, 
with  the  mere  growth,  indeed,  of  the  country  itself,  there 
must  come,  of  course,  the  .inevitable  increase  of  expense. 
The  sort  of  economy  we  ought  to  practice  may  be  effected, 

25  and  ought  to  be  effected,  by  a  careful  study  and  assess 
ment  of  the  tasks  to  be  performed;  and  the  money  spent 
.ought  to  be  made  to  yield  the  best  possible  returns  in  ef 
ficiency  and  achievement.  And,  like  good  stewards,  we 
should  so  account  for  every  dollar  of  our  appropriations 

30  as  to  make  it  perfectly  evident  what  it  was  spent  for  and 
in  what  way  it  was  spent. 

It  is  not  expenditure  but  extravagance  that  we  should 
fear  being  criticized  for;  not  paying  for  the  legitimate 
enterprises  and  undertakings  of  a  great  Government  whose 


Annual  Address  to  Congress  127 

people  command  what  it  should  do,  but  adding  what  will 
benefit  only  a  few  or  pouring  money  out  for  w7hat  need  not 
have  been  undertaken  at  all  or  might  have  been  postponed 
or  better  and  more  economically  conceived  and  carried 
out.  The  Nation  is  not  niggardly;  it  is  very  generous.  5 
It  will  chide  us  only  if  we  forget  for  wrhom  we  pay  money 
out  and  whose  money  it  is  we  pay.  These  are  large  and 
general  standards,  but  they  are  not  very  difficult  of  ap 
plication  to  particular  cases. 

The  other  topic  I  shall  take  leave  to  mention  goes  10 
deeper  into  the  principles  of  our  national  life  and  policy. 
It  is  the  subject  of  national  defense. 

It  cannot  be  discussed  without  first  answering  some 
very  searching  questions.    It  is  said  in  some  quarters  that 
we  are  not  prepared  for  war.     What  is  meant  by  being  15 
prepared?     Is  it  meant  that  we  are  not  ready  upon  brief 
notice  to  put  a  nation  in  the  field,  a  nation  of  men  trained 
to  arms?    Of  course  we  are  not  ready  to  do  that;  and  we 
shall  never  be  in  time  of  peace  so  long  as  we  retain  our 
present  political  principles  and  institutions.     And  what  20 
is  it  that  it  is  suggested  we  should  be  prepared  to  do?    To 
defend  ourselves  against  attack?    We  have  always  found 
means  to  do  that,  and  shall  find  them  whenever  it  is  neces 
sary  without  calling  our  people  away  from  their  necessary 
tasks  to  render  compulsory  military  service  in  times  of  25 
peace. 

Allow  me  to  speak  with  great  plainness  and  directness 
upon  this  great  matter  and  to  avow  my  convictions  with 
deep  earnestness.  I  have  tried  to  know  what  America  is, 
what  her  people  think,  what  they  are,  what  they  most  3 
cherish  and  hold  dear.  I  hope  that  some  of  their  finer 
passions  are  in  my  own  heart, — some  of  the  great  concep 
tions  and  desires  which  gave  birth  to  this  Government  and 
which  have  made  the  voice  of  this  people  a  voice  of  peace 


128  Woodrow  Wilson 

and  hope  and  liberty  among  the  peoples  of  the  world,  and 
that,  speaking  my  own  thoughts,  I  shall,  at  least  in  part, 
speak  theirs  also,  however  faintly  and  inadequately,  upon 
this  vital  matter. 

5  We  are  at  peace  with  all  the  world.  No  one  who  speaks 
counsel  based  on  fact  or  drawn  from  a  just  and  candid 
interpretation  of  realities  can  say  that  there  is  reason  to 
fear  that  from  any  quarter  our  independence  or  the  in 
tegrity  of  our  territory  is  threatened.  Dread  of  the  power 

10  of  any  other  nation  we  are  incapable  of.  We  are  not  jeal 
ous  of  rivalry  in  the  fields  of  commerce  or  of  any  other 
peaceful  achievement.  We  mean  to  live  our  own  lives  as 
we  will;  but  we  mean  also  to  let  live.  We  are,  indeed,  a 
true  friend  to  all  the  nations  of  the  world,  because  we 

[5  threaten  none,  covet  the  possessions  of  none,  desire  the 
overthrow  of  none.  Our  friendship  can  be  accepted  and 
is  accepted-  without  reservation,  because  it  is  offered  in  a 
spirit  and  for  a  purpose  which  no  one  need  ever  question 
or  suspect.  Therein  lies  our  greatness.  We  are  the  cham- 

20  pions  of  peace  and  of  concord.  And  we  should  be  very 
jealous  of  this  distinction  which  we  have  sought  to  earn. 
Just  now  we  should  be  particularly  jealous  of  it,  because 
it  is  our  dearest  present  hope  that  this  character  and  repu 
tation  may  presently,  in  God's  providence,  bring  us  an 

25  opportunity  such  as  has  seldom  been  vouchsafed  any 
nation,  the  opportunity  to  counsel  and  obtain  peace  in 
the  world  and  reconciliation  and  a  healing  settlement  of 
many  a  matter  that  has  cooled  and  interrupted  the  friend 
ship  of  nations.  This  is  the  time  above  all  others  when 

30  we  should  wish  and  resolve  to  keep  our  strength  by  self- 
possession,  our  influence  by  preserving  our  ancient  prin 
ciples  of  action. 

From  the  first  we  have  had  a  clear  and  settled  policy 
with  regard  to  military  establishments.     We  never  have 


Annual  Address  to  Congress  129 

had,  and  while  we  retain  our  present  principles  and  ideals 
we  never  shall  have,  a  large  standing  army.  If  asked, 
Are  you  ready  to  defend  yourselves?  we  reply,  Most 
assuredly,  to  the  utmost;  and  yet  we  shall  not  turn  America 
into  a  military  camp.  We  will  not  ask  our  young  men  to 
spend  the  best  years  of  their  lives  making  soldiers  of 
themselves.  There  is  another  sort  of  energy  in  us.  It  will 
know  how  to  declare  itself  and  make  itself  effective  should 
occasion  arise.  And  especially  when  half  the  world  is  on 
fire  we  shall  be  careful  to  make  our  moral  insurance  against 
the  spread  of  the  conflagration' very "Hermlte  and  certain 
and  adequate  indeed. 

Let  us  remind  ourselves,  therefore,  of  the  only  thing  we 
can  do  or  will  do.  We  must  depend  in  every  time  of  na 
tional  peril,  in  the  future  as  in  the  past,  not  upon  a  stand-  15 
ing  army,  nor  yet  upon  a  reserve  army,  but  upon  a  cit 
izenry  trained  and  accustomed  to  arms.  It  will  be  right 
enough,  right  American  policy,  based  upon  our  accustomed 
principles  and  practices,  to  provide  a  system  by  which 
every  citizen  who  will  volunteer  for  the  training  may  be  20 
made  familiar  with  the  use  of  modern  arms,  the  rudiments 
or  drill  and  maneuver,  and  the  maintenance  and  sanitation 
of  camps.  We  should  encourage  such  training  and  make 
it  a  means  of  discipline  which  our  young  men  will  learn 
to  value.  It  is  right  that  we  should  provide  it  not  only,  25 
but  that  we  should  make  it  as  attractive  as  possible,  and 
so  induce  our  young  men  to  undergo  it  at  such  times  as 
they  can  command  a  little  freedom  and  can  seek  the 
physical  development  they  need,  for  mere  health's  sake, 
if  for  nothing  more.  Every  means  by  which  such  things  30 
can  be  stimulated  is  legitimate,  and  such  a  method  smacks 
of  true  American  ideas.  It  is  right,  too,  that  the  Na 
tional  Guard  of  the  States  should  be  developed  and 
strengthened  by  every  means  which  is  not  inconsistent 


Woodrow  Wilson 

with  our  obligations  to  our  own  people  or  with  the  estab 
lished  policy  of  our  Government.  And  this,  also,  not  be 
cause  the  time  or  occasion  specially  calls  for  such  meas 
ures,  but  because  it  should  be  our  constant  policy  to  make 
5  these  provisions  for  our  national  peace  and  safety. 

More  than  this  carries  with  it  a  reversal  of  the  whole 
history  and  character  of  our  polity.  More  than  this, 
proposed  at  this  time,  permit  me  to  say,  would  mean 
merely  that  we  had  lost  our  self-possession,  that  we  had 

10  been  thrown  off  our  balance  by  a  war  with  which  we  have 
nothing  to  do,  whose  causes  cannot  touch  us,  whose  very 
existence  affords  us  opportunities  of  friendship  and  dis 
interested  service  which  should  make  us  ashamed  of  any 
thought  of  hostility  or  fearful  preparation  for  trouble. 

i'S  This  is  assuredly  the  opportunity  for  which  a  people  and  a 
government  like  ours  were  raised  up,  the  opportunity  not 
only  to  speak  but  actually  to  embody  and  exemplify  the 
counsels  of  peace  and  amity  and  the  lasting  concord  which 
is  based  on  justice  and  fair  and  generous  dealing. 

20  A  powerful  navy  we  have  always  regarded  as  our  proper 
and  natural  means  of  defense;  and  it  has  always  been  of 
defense  that  we  have  thought,  never  of  aggression  or  of 
conquest.  But  who  shall  tell  us  now  what  sort  of  a  navy  to 
build?  We  shall  take  leave  to  be  strong  upon  the  seas,  in 

25  the  future  as  in  the  past;  and  there  will  be  no  thought  of 
offense  or  of  provocation  in  that.  Our  ships  are  our 
natural  bulwarks.  When  will  the  experts  tell  us  just  what 
kind  we  should  construct — and  when  will  they  be  right  for 
ten  years  together,  if  the  relative  efficiency  of  craft  of 

30  different  kinds  and  uses  continues  to  change  as  we  have 

seen  it  change  under  our  very  eyes  in  these  last  few  months? 

But  I  turn  away  from  the  subject.    It  is  not  new.    There 

is  no  new  need  to  discuss  it.   We  shall  not  alter  our  attitude 

toward  it  because  some  amongst  us  are  nervous  and  ex- 


Annual  Address  to  Congress  131 

cited.  We  shall  easily  and  sensibly  agree  upon  a  policy  of 
defense.  The  question  has  not  changed  its  aspect  because 
the  times  are  not  normal.  Our  policy  will  not  be  for  an 
occasion.  It  will  be  conceived  as  a  permanent  and  settled 
thing,  which  we  will  pursue  at  all  seasons,  without  haste  5 
and  after  a  fashion  perfectly  consistent  with  the  peace  of 
the  world,  the  abiding  friendship  of  states,  and  the  un 
hampered  freedom  of  all  with  whom  we  deal.  Let  there  be 
no  misconception.  The  country  has  been  misinformed. 
We  have  not  been  negligent  of  national  defense.  We  are  10 
not  unmindful  of  the  great  responsibility  resting  upon  us. 
We  shall  learn  and  profit  by  the  lesson  of  every  experience 
and  every  new  circumstance;  and  what  is  needed  will  be 
adequately  done. 

I  close,  as  I  began,  by  reminding  you  of  the  great  tasks  15 
and  duties  of  peace  which  challenge  our  best  powers  and  in 
vite  us  to  build  what  will  last,  the  tasks  to  which  we  can  ad 
dress  ourselves  now  and  at  all  times  with  free-hearted  zest 
and  with  all  the  finest  gifts  of  constructive  wisdom  we  pos 
sess.    To  develop  our  life  and  our  resources;  to  supply  our  20 
own  people,  and  the  people  of  the  world  as  their  need  arises, 
from  the  abundant  plenty  of  our  fields  and  our  marts  of 
trade;  to  enrich  the  commerce  of  our  own  States  and  of  the 
world  with  the  products  of  our  mines,  our  farms,  and  our 
factories,  with  the  creations  of  our  thought  and  the  fruits  25 
of  our  character, — this  is  what  will  hold  our  attention  and 
our  enthusiasm  steadily,  now  and  in  the  years  to  come,  as 
we  strive  to  show  in  our  life  as  a  nation  what  liberty  and 
the  inspirations  of  an  emancipated  spirit  may  do  for  men 
and  for  societies,  for  individuals,  for  states,  and  for  man-  3° 
kind. 


A  MESSAGE 

[Returning  to  the  House  of  Representatives  without  approval  an 
act  to  regulate  the  immigration  of  aliens  to  and  the  residence  of 
aliens  in  the  United  States.] 

To  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES: 

It  is  with  unaffected  regret  that  I  find  myself  constrained 
by  clear  conviction  to  return  this  bill  (H.  R.  6060,  "An  act 
to  regulate  the  immigration  of  aliens  to  and  the  residence 

s  of  aliens  in  the  United  States")  without  my  signature. 
Not  only  do  I  feel  it  to  be  a  very  serious  matter  to  exercise 
the  power  of  veto  in  any  case,  because  it  involves  opposing 
the  single  judgment  of  the  President  to  the  judgment  of  a 
majority  of  both  the  Houses  of  the  Congress,  a  step  which 

I0  no  man  who  realizes  his  own  liability  to  error  can  take 
without  great  hesitation,  but  also  because  this  particular 
bill  is  in  so  many  important  respects  admirable,  well  con 
ceived,  and  desirable.  Its  enactment  into  law  would 
undoubtedly  enhance  the  efficiency  and  improve  the 

15  methods  of  handling  the  important  branch  of  the  public 
service  to  which  it  relates.  But  candor  and  a  sense  of  duty 
with  regard  to  the  responsibility  so  clearly  imposed  upon 
me  by  the  Constitution  in  matters  of  legislation  leave  me 
no  choice  but  to  dissent. 

20  In  two  particulars  of  vital  consequence  this  bill  em 
bodies  a  radical  departure  from  the  traditional  and  long- 
established  policy  of  this  country,  a  policy  in  which  our 
people  have  conceived  the  very  character  of  their  Govern 
ment  to  be  expressed,  the  very  mission  and  spirit  of  the 

25  Nation  in  respect  of  its  relations  to  the  peoples  of  the 
world  outside  their  borders.  It  seeks  to  all  but  close  en- 

132 


* 

(/ 


A  Message       /  133 


tirely  the  gates  of  asylum  which  have  always  been  open  to 
those  who  could  find  nowhere  else  the  right  and  oppor 
tunity  of  constitutional  agitation  for  what  they  conceived 
to  be  the  natural  and  inalienable  rights  of  men;  and  it 
excludes  those  to  whom  the  opportunities  of  elementary  5 
education  have  been  denied,  without  regard  to  their 
character,  their  purposes,  or  their  natural  capacity. 

Restrictions  like  these,  adopted  earlier  in  our  history  as  a 
Nation,  would  very  materially  have  altered  the  course 
and  cooled  the  humane  ardors  of  our  politics.  The  right  10 
of  political  asylum  has  brought  to  this  country  many  a 
man  of  noble  character  and  elevated  purpose  who  was 
marked  as  an  outlaw  in  his  own  less  fortunate  land,  and 
who  has  yet  become  an  ornament  to  our  citizenship  and 
to  our  public  councils.  The  children  and  the  compatriots  15 
of  these  illustrious  Americans  must  stand  amazed  to  see 
the  representatives  of  their  Nation  now  resolved,  in  the 
fullness  of  our  national  strength  and  at  the  maturity  of 
our  great  institutions,  to  risk  turning  such  men  back  from 
our  shores  without  test  of  quality  or  purpose.  It  is  difficult  20 
for  me  to  believe  that  the  full  effect  of  this  feature  of  the 
bill  was  realized  when  it  was  framed  and  adopted,  and  it  is 
impossible  for  me  to  assent  to  it  in  the  form  in  which  it  is 
here  cast. 

The  literacy  test  and  the  tests  and  restrictions  which  25 
accompany  it  constitute  an  even  more  radical  change  in  the 
policy  of  the  Nation.    Hitherto  we  have  generously  kept 
our  doors  open  to  all  who  were  not  unfitted  by  reason  of 
disease  or  incapacity  for  self-support  or  such  personal 
records  and  antecedents  as  were  likely  to  make~~them  a  30 
menace  to  our  peace  and  order  or  to  the  wholesome  and 
essential  relationships  of  life.    In  this  bill  it  is  proposed  to 
turn  away  from  tests  of  character  and  of  quality  and  im 
pose  tests  which  exclude  and  restrict;  for  the  new  tests 


134  Wood  row  Wilson 

here  embodied  are  not  tests  of  quality  or  of  character  or  of 
personal  fitness,  but  tests  of  opportunity.  Those  who  come 
seeking  opportunity  are  not  to  be  admitted  unless  they 
have  already  had  one  of  the  chief  of  the  opportunities  they 
seek,  the  opportunity  of  education.  The  object  of  such 
provisions  is  restriction,  not  selection. 

If  the  people  of  this  country  have  made  up  their  minds 
to  limit  the  number  of  immigrants  by  arbitrary  tests  and 
so  reverse  the  policy  of  all  the  generations  of  Americans 

10  that  have  gone  before  them,  it  is  their  right  to  do  so.  I  am 
their  servant  and  have  no  license  to  stand  in  their  way. 
But  I  do  not  believe  that  they  have.  I  respectfully  submit 
that  no  one  can  quote  their  mandate  to  that  effect.  Has 
any  political  party  ever  avowed  a  policy  of  restriction  in 

15  this  fundamental  matter,  gone  to  the  country  on  it,  and 
been  commissioned  to  control  its  legislation?  Does  this 
bill  rest  upon  the  conscious  and  universal  assent  and  desire 
of  the  American  people?  I  doubt  it.  It  is  because  I  doubt 
it  that  I  make  bold  to  dissent  from  it.  I  am  willing  to 

20  abide  by  the  verdict,  but  not  until  it  has  been  rendered. 
Let  the  platforms  of  parties  speak  out  upon  this  policy  and 
the  people  pronounce  their  wish.    The  matter  is  too  fun 
damental  to  be  settled  otherwise. 
I  have  no  pride  of  opinion  in  this  question.    I  am  not 

25  foolish  enough  to  profess  to  know  the  wishes  and  ideals  of 
America  better  than  the  body  of  her  chosen  representatives 
know  them.  I  only  want  instruction  direct  from  those 
whose  fortunes,  with  ours  and  all  men's,  are  involved. 

WOODROW  WILSON. 

30      THE  WHITE  HOUSE,  28  January,  1915. 


ADDRESS  BEFORE  THE  UNITED  STATES 
CHAMBER  OF  COMMERCE 

[Delivered  in  Washington,  February  3,  1915.] 

MR.  PRESIDENT,  LADIES  AND  QENTLEMEN: 

I  feel  that  it  is  hardly  fair  to  you  for  me  to  come  in  in 
this  casual  fashion  among  a  body  of  men  who  have  been 
seriously  discussing  great  questions,  and  it  is  hardly  fair 
to  me,  because  I  come  in  cold,  not  having  had  the  advan-  5 
tage  of  sharing  the  atmosphere  of  your  deliberations  and 
catching  the  feeling  of  your  conference.  Moreover,  I 
hardly  know  just  how  to  express  my  interest  in  the  things 
you  are  undertaking.  When  a  man  stands  outside  an 
organization  and  speaks  to  it  he  is  too  apt  to  have  the  10 
tone  of  outside  commendation,  as  who  should  say,  "I 
would  desire  to  pat  you  on  the  back  and  say  'Good  boys; 
you  are  doing  well!"3  I  would  a  great  deal  rather  have 
you  receive  me  as  if  for  the  time  being  I  were  one  of  your 
own  number.  15 

Because  the  longer  I  occupy  the  office  that  I  now 
occupy  the  more  I  regret  any  lines  of  separation;  the 
more  I  deplore  any  feeling  that  one  set  SHBfBfTTSas  one 
set  of  interests  and  another  set  of  men  another  set  of 
interests;  the  more  I  feel  the  solidarity  of  the  Nation —  20 
the  impossibility  of  separating  one  interest  from  another 
without  misconceiving  it;  the  necessity  that  we  should  all 
understand  one  another,  in  order  that  we  may  understand 
ourselves. 

There  is  an  illustration  which  I  have  used  a  great  many  25 
times.    I  will  use  it  again,  because  it  is  the  most  service 
able  to  my  own  mind.    We  often  speak  of  a  man  who 


136  Woodrow  Wilson 

.•cannot  find  his  way  in  some  jungle  or  some  desert  as  hav- 
\/  ing  "lost  himself."     Did  you  never  reflect  that  that  is 

[  the  only  thing  he  has  not  lost?  He  is  there.  He  has  lost 
the  rest  of  the  world.  He  has  no  fixed  point  by  which  to 

\  5  steer.  He  does  not  know  which  is  north,  which  is  south, 
which  is  east,  which  is  west;  and  if  he  did  know,  he  is  so 
confused  that  he  would  not  know  in  which  of  those  direc 
tions  his  goal  lay.  Therefore,  following  his  heart,  he 
walks  in  a  great  circle  from  right  to  left  and  comes  back 

|io  to  where  he  started — to  himself  again.  To  my  mind  that 
is  a  picture  of  the  world.  If  you  have  lost  sight  of  other 
interests  and  do  not  know  the  relation  of  your  own  inter 
ests  to  those  other  interests,  then  you  do  not  understand 
your  own  interests,  and  have  lost  yourself.  What  you 
5  want  is  orientation,  relationship  to  the  points  of  the  com 
pass;  relationship  to  the  other  people  in  the  world;  vital 
connections  which  you  have  for  the  time  being  severed. 

I  am  particularly  glad  to  express  my  admiration  for 
the  kind  of  organization  which  you  have  drawn  together. 

20  I  have  attended  banquets  of  chambers  of  commerce  in 
various  parts  of  the  country  and  have  got  the  impression 
at  each  of  those  banquets  that  there  was  only  one  city 
in  the  country.  It  has  seemed  to  me  that  those  associa 
tions  were  meant  in  order  to  destroy  men's  perspective, 

25  in  order  to  destroy  their  sense  of  relative  proportions. 
Worst  of  all,  if  I  may  be  permitted  to  say  so,  they  were 
intended  to  boost  something  in  particular.  Boosting  is 
a  very  unhandsome  thing.  Advancing  enterprise  is  a  very 
handsome  thing,  but  to  exaggerate  local  merits  in  order 

30  to  create  disproportion  in  the  general  development  is 
not  a  particularly  handsome  thing  or  a  particularly  in 
telligent  thing.  A  city  cannot  grow  on  the  face  of  a  great 
state  like  a  mushroom  on  that  one  spot.  Its  roots  are 
throughout  the  state,  and  unless  the  state  it  is  in,  or  the 


Before  the  U.  S.  Chamber  of  Commerce     137 

region  it  draws  from,  can  itself  thrive  and  pulse  with  life 
as  a  whole,  the  city  can  have  no  healthy  growth.  You 
forget  the  wide  rootages  of  everything  when  you  boost 
some  particular  region.  There  are  dangers  which  prob 
ably  you  all  understand  in  the  mere  practice  of  advertise-  5 
ment.  When  a  man  begins  to  advertise  himself  there  are 
certain  points  that  are  somewhat  exaggerated,  and  I 
have  noticed  that  men  who  exaggerate  most,  most  quickly 
lose  any  proper  conception  of  what  their  own  proportions 
are.  Therefore,  these  local  centers  of  enthusiasm  may  10 
be  local  centers  of  mistake  if  they  are  not  very  wisely 
guided  and  if  they  do  not  themselves  realize  their  relations 
to  the  other  centers  of  enthusiasm  and  of  advancement. 

The  advantage  about  a  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  the 
United  States  is  that  there  is  only  one  way  to  boost  the  15 
United  States,  and  that  is  by  seeing  to  it  that  the  condi 
tions  under  which  business  is  done  throughout  the  whole 
country  are  the  best  possible  conditions.  There  cannot 
be  any  disproportion  about  that.  If  you  draw  your  sap 
and  your  vitality  from  all  quarters,  then  the  more  sap  20 
and  vitality  there  is  in  you  the  more  there  is  in  the  com 
monwealth  as  a  wrhole,  and  every  time  you  lift  at  all  you 
lift  the  whole  level  of  manufacturing  and  mercantile 
enterprise.  Moreover,  the  advantage  of  it  is  that  you 
cannot  boost  the  United  States  in  that  way  without  25 
understanding  the  United  States.  You  learn  a  great  deal. 
I  agreed  with  a  colleague  of  mine  in  the  Cabinet  the  other 
day  that  we  had  never  attended  in  our  lives  before  a  school 
to  compare  with  that  we  were  now  attending  for  the 
purpose  of  gaining  a  liberal  education.  30 

Of  course,  I  learn  a  great  many  things  that  are  not  so, 
but  the  interesting  thing  about  that  is  this:  Things  that 
are  not  so  do  not  match.  If  you  hear  enough  of  them, 
you  see  there  is  no  pattern  whatever;  it  is  a  crazy  quilt. 


138  Woodrow  Wilson 

Whereas,  the  truth  always  matches,  piece  by  piece,  with 
other  parts  of  the  truth.  No  man  can  lie  consistently, 
and  he  cannot  lie  about  everything  if  he  talks  to  you 
long.  I  would  guarantee  that  if  enough  liars  talked  to 
5  you,  you  would  get  the  truth;  because  the  parts  that 
they  did  not  invent  would  match  one  another,  and  the 
parts  that  they  did  invent  would  not  match  one  another. 
Talk  long  enough,  therefore,  and  see  the  connections 
clearly  enough,  and  you  can  patch  together  the  case  as  a 

10  whole.  I  had  somewhat  that  experience  about  Mexico, 
and  that  was  about  the  only  way  in  which  I  learned  any 
thing  that  was  true  about  it.  For  there  had  been  vivid 
imaginations  and  many  special  interests  which  depicted 
things  as  they  wished  me  to  believe  them  to  be. 

15  Seriously,  the  task  of  this  body  is  to  match  all  the  facts 
of  business  throughout  the  country  and  to  see  the  vast 
and  consistent  pattern  of  it.  That  is  the  reason  I  think 
you  are  to  be  congratulated  upon  the  fact  that  you  can 
not  do  this  thing  without  common  counsel.  There  isn't 

|o|any  man  who  knows  enough  to  comprehend  the  United 

I  States.     It  is  cooperative  effort,  necessarily.     You  can- 

fnot  perform  the  functions  of  this  Chamber  of  Commerce 

J  without  drawing  in  not  only  a  vast  number  of  men,  but 

men,  and  a  number  of  men,  from  every  region  and  section 

25  of  the  country.  The  minute  this  association  falls  into  the 
hands,  if  it  ever  should,  of  men  from  a  single  section  or 
men  with  a  single  set  of  interests  most  at  heart,  it  will 
go  to  seed  and  die.  Its  strength  must  come  from  the 
uttermost  parts  of  the  land  and  must  be  compounded  of 

30  brains  and  comprehensions  of  every  sort.  It  is  a  very 
noble  and  handsome  picture  for  the  imagination,  and  I 
have  asked  myself  before  I  came  here  to-day,  what  relation 
you  could  bear  to  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
and  what  relation  the  Government  could  bear  to  you? 


Before  the  U.  S.  Chamber  of  Commerce     139 

There  are  two  aspects  and  activities  of  the  Govern 
ment  with  which  you  will  naturally  come  into  most  direct 
contact.  The  first  is  the  Government's  power  of  inquiry, 
systematic  and  disinterested  inquiry,  and  its  power  of 
scientific  assistance.  You  get  an  illustration  of  the  latter,  5 
for  example,  in  the  Department  of  Agriculture.  Has  it 
occurred  to  you,  I  wonder,  that  we  are  just  upon  the  eve 
of  a  time  when  our  Department  of  Agriculture  will  be  of 
infinite  importance  to  the  whole  world?  There  is  a  short 
age  of  food  in  the  world  now.  That  shortage  will  be  much  10 
more  serious  a  few  months  from  now  than  it  is  now.  It  is 
necessary  that  we  should  plant  a  great  deal  more;  it  is 
necessary  that  our  lands  should  yield  more  per  acre  than 
they  do  now;  it  is  necessary  that  there  should  not  be  a 
plow  or  a  spade  idle  in  this  country  if  the  world  is  to  be  15 
fed.  And  the  methods  of  our  farmers  must  feed  upon  the 
scientific  information  to  be  derived  from  the  State  de 
partments  of  agriculture,  and  from  that  taproot  of  all, 
the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture.  The  object 
and  use  of  that  department  is  to  inform  men  of  the  latest  20 
developments  and  disclosures  of  science  with  regard  to 
all  the  processes  by  which  soils  can  be  put  to  their  proper 
use  and  their  fertility  made  the  greatest  possible.  Sim 
ilarly  with  the  Bureau  of  Standards.  It  is  ready  to  supply 
those  things  by  which  you  can  set  norms,  you  can  set  25 
bases,  for  all  the  scientific  processes  of  business. 

I  have  a  great  admiration  for  the  scientific  parts  of  the        / 
Government  of  the  United  States,  and  it  has  amazed    V' 
me  that  so  few  men  have  discovered  them.    Here  in  these 
departments  are  quiet  men,  trained  to  the  highest  degree  30 
of  skill,  serving  for  a  petty  remuneration  along  lines  that 
are  infinitely  useful  to  mankind;  and  yet  in  some  cases 
they  waited  to  be  discovered  until  this  Chamber  of  Com 
merce  of  the  United  States  was  established.    Coming  to 


140  Woodrow  Wilson 

this  city,  officers  of  that  association  found  that  there  were 
here  things  that  were  infinitely  useful  to  them  and  with 
which  the  whole  United  States  ought  to  be  put  into  com 
munication. 

5  The  Government  of  the  United  States  is  very  properly 
a  great  instrumentality  of  inquiry  and  information.  One 
thing  we  are  just  beginning  to  do  that  we  ought  to  have 
done  long  ago:  We  ought  long  ago  to  have  had  our  Bureau 
of  Foreign  and  Domestic  Commerce.  We  ought  long  ago 

10  to  have  sent  the  best  eyes  of  the  Government  out  into 
the  world  to  see  where  the  opportunities  and  openings  of 
American  commerce  and  American  genius  were  to  be 
found — men  who  were  not  sent  out  as  the  commercial 
agents  of  any  particular  set  of  business  men  in  the  United 

15  States,  but  who  were  eyes  for  the  whole  business  com 
munity.  I  have  been  reading  consular  reports  for  twenty 
years.  In  what  I  came  to  regard  as  an  evil  day  the  Con 
gressman  from  my  district  began  to  send  me  the  consular 
reports,  and  they  ate  up  more  and  more  of  my  time.  They 

20  are  very  interesting,  but  they  are  a  good  deal  like  what 
the  old  lady  said  of  the  dictionary,  that  it  was  very  inter 
esting  but  a  little  disconnected.  You  get  a  picture  of 
the  world  as  if  a  spotlight  were  being  dotted  about  over 
the  surface  of  it.  Here  you  see  a  glimpse  of  this,  and  here 

25  you  see  a  glimpse  of  that,  and  through  the  medium  of 
some  consuls  you  do  not  see  anything  at  all.  Because 
the  consul  has  to  have  eyes  and  the  consul  has  to  know 
what  he  is  looking  for.  A  literary  friend  of  mine  said 
that  he  used  to  believe  in  the  maxim  that  "everything 

30  comes  to  the  man  who  waits,"  but  he  discovered  after 
awhile  by  practical  experience  that  it  needed  an  additional 
clause,  "provided  he  knows  what  he  is  waiting  for."  Un 
less  you  know  what  you  are  looking  for  and  have  trained 
eyes  to  see  it  when  it  comes  your  way,  it  may  pass  you 


Before  the  U.  S.  Chamber  of  Commerce     141 

unnoticed.  We  are  just  beginning  to  do,  systematically 
and  scientifically,  what  we  ought  long  ago  to  have  done, 
to  employ  the  Government  of  the  United  States  to  survey 
the  world  in  order  that  American  commerce  might  be 
guided.  5 

But  there  are  other  ways  of  using  the  Government  of 
the  United  States,  ways  that  have  long  been  tried,  though 
not  always  with  conspicuous  success  or  fortunate  results. 
You  can  use  the  Government  of  the  United  States  by  in 
fluencing  its  legislation.  That  has  been  a  very  active  in-  10 
dustry,  but  it  has  not  always  been  managed  in  the  in 
terest  of  the  whole  people.  It  is  very  instructive  and 
useful  for  the  Government  of  the  United  States  to  have 
such  means  as  you  are  ready  to  supply  for  getting  a  sort 
of  consensus  of  opinion  which  proceeds  from  no  particular  15 
quarter  and  originates  with  no  particular  interest.  In 
formation  is  the  very  foundation  of  all  right  action  in 
legislation. 

I  remember  once,  a  good  many  years  ago,  I  was  attend 
ing  one  of  the  local  chambers  of  commerce  of  the  United  20 
States  at  a  time  when  everybody  was  complaining  that 
Congress  was  interfering  with  business.  If  you  have 
heard  that  complaint  recently  and  supposed  that  it  was 
original  with  the  men  who  made  it,  you  have  not  lived  as 
long  as  I  have.  It  has  been  going  on  ever  since  I  can  25 
remember.  The  complaint  came  most  vigorously  from 
men  who  were  interested  in  large  corporate  development. 
I  took  the  liberty  to  say  to  that  body  of  men,  whom  I  did 
not  know,  that  I  took  it  for  granted  that  there  were  a 
great  many  lawyers  among  them,  and  that  it  was  likely  30 
that  the  more  prominent  of  those  lawyers  were  the  inti 
mate  advisors  of  the  corporations  of  that  region.  I  said 
that  I  had  met  a  great  many  lawyers  from  whom  the  com 
plaint  had  come  most  vigorously,  not  only  that  there  was 


142  Woodrow  Wilson 

too  much  legislation  with  regard  to  corporations,  but  that 
it  was  ignorant  legislation.  I  said,  "Now,  the  responsi 
bility  is  with  you.  If  the  legislation  is  mistaken,  you  are 
on  the  inside  and  know  where  the  mistakes  are  being 
5  made.  You  know  not  only  the  innocent  and  right  things 
that  your  corporations  are  doing,  but  you  know  the  other 
things,  too.  Knowing  how  they  are  done,  you  can  be  ex 
pert  advisors  as  to  how  the  wrong  things  can  be  prevented. 
If,  therefore,  this  thing  is  handled  ignorantly,  there  is 

10  nobody  to  blame  but  yourselves."  If  we  on  the  outside 
cannot  understand  the  thing  and  cannot  get  advice  from 
the  inside,  then  we  will  have  to  do  it  with  the  flat  hand 
and  not  with  the  touch  of  skill  and  discrimination.  Isn't 
that  true?  Men  on  the  inside  of  business  know  how  busi- 

15  ness  is  conducted  and  they  cannot  complain  if  men  on  the 

outside  make  mistakes  about  business  if  they  do  not  come 

from  the  inside  and  give  the  kind  of  advice  which  is 

necessary. 

The  trouble  has  been  that  when  they  came  in  the  past — 

20  for  I  think  the  thing  is  changing  very  rapidly — they  came 
with  all  their  bristles  out;  they  came  on  the  defensive; 
they  came  to  see,  not  what  they  could  accomplish,  but 
what  they  could  prevent.  They  did  not  come  to  guide; 
they  came  to  block.  That  is  of  no  use  whatever  to  the 

(5  general  body  politic.    What  has  got  to  pervade  us  like  a 
great  motive  power  is  that  we  cannot,  and  must  not, 
separate  our  interests  from  one  another,  but  must  pool 
;  our  interests.    A  man  who  is  trying  to  fight  for  his  single 
ind  is  fighting  against  the  community  and  not  fighting 
dth  it.     There  are  a  great  many  dreadful  things  about 
war,  as  nobody  needs  to  be  told  in  this  day  of  distress  and 
of  terror,  but  there  is  one  thing  about  war  which  has  a 
very  splendid  side,  and  that  is  the  consciousness  that  a 
whole  nation  gets  that  they  must  all  act  as  a  unit  for  a 


Before  the  U.  S.  Chamber  of  Commerce     143 

common  end.  And  when  peace  is  as  handsome  as  war 
there  will  be  no  war.  When  men,  I  mean,  engage  in  the 
pursuits  of  peace  in  the  same  spirit  of  self-sacrifice  and 
of  conscious  service  of  the  community  with  which,  at 
any  rate,  the  common  soldier  engages  in  war,  then  shall  5 
there  be  wars  no  more.  You  have  moved  the  vanguard 
for  the  United  States  in  the  purposes  of  this  association 
just  a  little  nearer  that  ideal.  That  is  the  reason  I  am 
here,  because  I  believe  it. 

There  is  a  specific  matter  about  which  I,  for  one,  want  10 
your  advice.    Let  me  say,  if  I  may  say  it  without  disre 
spect,  that  I  do  not  think  you  are  prepared  to  give  it  right 
away.    You  will  have  to  make  some  rather  extended  in 
quiries  before  you  are  ready  to  give  it.    What  I  am  think 
ing  of  is  competition  in  foreign  markets  as  between  the  15 
merchants  of  different  nations. 

I  speak  of  the  subject  with  a  certain  degree  of  hesitation, 
because  the  thing  farthest  from  my  thought  is  taking  ad 
vantage  of  nations  now  disabled  from  playing  their  full 
part  in  that  competition,  and  seeking  a  sudden  selfish  20 
advantage  because  they  are  for  the  time  being  disabled. 
Pray  believe  me  that  we  ought  to  eliminate  all  that  thought 
from  our  minds  and  consider  this  matter  as  if  we  and  the 
other  nations  now  at  war  were  in  the  normal  circumstances 
of  commerce.  25 

There  is  a  normal  circumstance  of  commerce  in  which 
we  are  apparently  at  a  disadvantage.  Our  anti-trust  laws 
are  thought  by  some  to  make  it  illegal  for  merchants  in 
the  United  States  to  form  combinations  for  the  purpose 
of  strengthening  themselves  in  taking  advantage  of  the  30 
opportunities  of  foreign  trade.  That  is  a  very  serious 
matter  for  this  reason:  There  are  some  corporations,  and 
some  firms  for  all  I  know,  whose  business  is  great  enough 
and  whose  resources  are  abundant  enough  to  enable  them 


144  Wood  row  Wilson 

to  establish  selling  agencies  in  foreign  countries;  to  enable 
them  to  extend  the  long  credits  which  in  some  cases  are 
necessary  in  order  to  keep  the  trade  they  desire;  to  enable 
them,  in  other  words,  to  organize  their  business  in  foreign 
5  territory  in  a  way  which  the  smaller  man  cannot  afford 
to  do.  His  business  has  not  grown  big  enough  to  permit 
him  to  establish  selling  agencies.  The  export  commission 
merchant,  perhaps,  taxes  him  a  little  too  highly  to  make 
that  an  available  competitive  means  of  conducting  and 

10  extending  his  business. 

The  question  arises,  therefore,  how  are  the  smaller  mer 
chants,  how  are  the  younger  and  weaker  corporations  going 
to  get  a  foothold  as  against  the  combinations  which  are 
permitted  and  even  encouraged  by  foreign  governments 

15  in  this  field  of  competition?  There  are  governments  which, 
as  you  know,  distinctly  encourage  the  formation  of  great 
combinations  in  each  particular  field  of  commerce  in 
order  to  maintain  selling  agencies  and  to  extend  long 
credits,  and  to  use  and  maintain  the  machinery  which  is 

20  necessary  for  the  extension  of  business;  and  American 
merchants  feel  that  they  are  at  a  very  considerable  disad 
vantage  in  contending  against  that.  The  matter  has  been 
many  times  brought  to  my  attention,  and  I  have  each 
time  suspended  judgment.  I  want  to  be  shown  this:  I 

25  want  to  be  shown  how  such  a  combination  can  be  made 
and  conducted  in  a  way  which  will  not  close  it  against 
the  use  of  everybody  who  wants  to  use  it.  A  combination 
has  a  tendency  to  exclude  new  members.  When  a  group 
of  men  get  control  of  a  good  thing,  they  do  not  see  any 

30  particular  point  in  letting  other  people  into  the  goodf \ 
thing.    What  I  would  like  very  much  to  be  shown,  there- \ 
fore,  is  a  method  of  cooperation  which  is  not  a  method  . 
of  combination.    Not  that  the  two  words  are  mutually  / 
exclusive,  but  we  have  come  to  have  a  special  meaning  at- 


Before  the  U.  S.  Chamber  of  Commerce     145 

tached  to  the  word  "combination."  Most  of  our  combina 
tions  have  a  safety  lock,  and  you  have  to  know  the  com 
bination  to  get  in.  I  want  to  know  how  these  cooperative 
methods  can  be  adopted  for  the  benefit  of  everybody  who 
wants  to  use  them,  and  I  say  frankly  if  I  can  be  shown  5 
that,  I  am  for  them.  If  I  cannot  be  shown  that,  I  am 
against  them.  I  hasten  to  add  that  I  hopefully  expect  I 
can  be  shown  that. 

You,  as  I  have  just  now  intimated,  probably  cannot 
show  it  to  me  offhand,  but  by  the  methods  which  you  10 
have  the  means  of  using  you  certainly  ought  to  be  able 
to  throw  a  vast  deal  of  light  on  the  subject.    Because  the 
minute  you  ask  the  small  merchant,  the  small  banker, 
the  country  man,  how  he  looks  upon  these  things  and  how 
he  thinks  they  ought  to  be  arranged  in  order  that  he  can  15 
use  them,  if  he  is  like  some  of  the  men  in  country  dis 
tricts  whom  I  know,  he  will  turn  out  to  have  had  a  good 
deal  of  thought  upon  that  subject  and  to  be  able  to  make 
some  very  interesting  suggestions  whose  intelligence  and 
comprehensiveness    will    surprise    some    city    gentlemen  20 
who  think  that  only  the  cities  understand  the  business  of 
the  country.    As  a  matter  of  fact,  you  do  not  have  time 
to  think  in  a  city.    It  takes  time  to  think.    You  can  get 
what  you  call  opinions  by  contagion  in  a  city  and  get 
them  very  quickly,  but  you  do  not  always  know  where  the  25 
germ  came  from.    And  you  have  no  scientific  laboratory 
method  by  which  to  determine  whether  it  is  a  good  germ 
or  a  bad  germ. 

There  are  thinking  spaces  in  this  country,  and  some  of 
the  thinking  done  is  very  solid  thinking  indeed,  the  think-  30 
ing  of  the  sort  of  men  that  we  all  love  best,  who  think  for 
themselves,  who  do  not  see  things  as  they  are  told  to  see 
them,  but  look  at  them  and  see  them  independently;  who, 
if  they  are  told  they  are  white  when  they  are  black,  plainly 


•ft 

146  Wood  row  Wilson 

say  that  they  are  black — men  with  eyes  and  with  a  courage 
back  of  those  eyes  to  tell  what  they  see.  The  country  is 
full  of  those  men.  They  have  been  singularly  reticent 
sometimes,  singularly  silent,  but  the  country  is  full  of 
5  them.  And  what  I  rejoice  in  is  that  you  have  called  them 
into  the  ranks.  For  your  methods  are  bound  to  be  demo 
cratic  in  spite  of  you.  I  do  not  mean  democratic  with  a 
big  "D,"  though  I  have  a  private  conviction  that  you 
cannot  be  democratic  with  a  small  "d"  long  without  be- 

10  coming  democratic  with  a  big  "D."  Still  that  is  just  be 
tween  ourselves.  The  point  is  that  when  we  have  a  con 
sensus  of  opinion,  when  we  have  this  common  counsel, 
then  the  legislative  processes  of  this  Government  will  be 
infinitely  illuminated. 

15  I  used  to  wonder  when  I  was  Governor  of  one  of  the 
States  of  this  great  country  where  all  the  bills  came  from. 
Some  of  them  had  a  very  private  complexion.  I  found 
upon  inquiry — it  was  easy  to  find — that  practically  nine- 
tenths  of  the  bills  that  were  introduced  had  been  handed 

20  to  the  members  who  introduced  them  by  some  constituent 
of  theirs,  had  been  drawn  up  by  some  lawyer  whom  they 
might  or  might  not  know,  and  were  intended  to  do  some 
thing  that  would  be  beneficial  to  a  particular  set  of  per 
sons.  I  do  not  mean,  necessarily,  beneficial  in  a  way  that 

25  would  be  hurtful  to  the  rest;  they  may  have  been  perfectly 
honest,  but  they  came  out  of  cubby-holes  all  over  the 
State.  They  did  not  come  out  of  public  places  where  men 
had  got  together  and  compared  views.  They  were  not 
the  products  of  common  counsel,  but  the  products  of 

30  private  counsel,  a  very  necessary  process  if  there  is  no 
other,  but  a  process  which  it  would  be  a  very  happy  thing 
to  dispense  with  if  we  could  get  another.  And  the  only 
other  process  is  the  process  of  common  counsel. 

Some  of  the  happiest  experiences  of  my  life  have  been 


Before  the  U.  S.  Chamber  of  Commerce     147 

like  this.  We  had  once  when  I  was  president  of  a  univer 
sity  to  revise  the  whole  course  of  study.*  Courses  of 
study  are  chronically  in  need  of  revision.  A  committee  of, 
I  believe,  fourteen  men  was  directed  by  the  faculty  of  the 
university  to  report  a  revised  curriculum.  Naturally,  the  5 
men  who  had  the  most  ideas  on  the  subject  were  picked  out 
and,  naturally,  each  man  came  with  a  very  definite  notion 
of  the  kind  of  revision  he  wanted,  and  one  of  the  first  dis 
coveries  we  made  was  that  no  two  of  us  wanted  exactly  the 
same  revision.  I  went  in  there  with  all  my  war  paint  on  to  10 
get  the  revision  I  wanted,  and  I  dare  say,  though  it  was 
perhaps  more  skillfully  concealed,  the  other  men  had  their 
war  paint  on,  too.  We  discussed  the  matter  for  six  months. 
The  result  was  a  report  which  no  one  of  us  had  conceived  or 
foreseen,  but  with  which  we  were  all  absolutely  satisfied.  15 
There  was  not  a  man  who  had  not  learned  in  that  com 
mittee  more  than  he  had  ever  known  before  about  the 
subject,  and  who  had  not  willingly  revised  his  preposses 
sions;  who  was  not  proud  to  be  a  participant  in  a  genuine 
piece  of  common  counsel.  I  have  had  several  experiences  20 
of  that  sort,  and  it  has  led  me,  whenever  I  confer,  to  hold 
my  particular  opinion  provisionally,  as  my  contribution  to 
go  into  the  final  result  but  not  to  dominate  the  final  result. 
That  is  the  ideal  of  a  government  like  ours,  and  an 
interesting  thing  is  that  if  you  only  talk  about  an  idea  that  25 
will  not  work  long  enough,  everybody  will  see  perfectly 
plainly  that  it  will  not  work;  whereas,  if  you  do  not  talk 
about  it,  and  do  not  have  a  great  many  people  talk  about 
it,  you  are  in  danger  of  having  the  people  who  handle  it 
think  that  it  will  work.  Many  minds  are  necessary  to  com-  30 
pound  a  workable  method  of  life  in  a  various  and  populous 
country;  and  as  I  think  about  the  whole  thing  and  picture 
the  purposes,  the  infinitely  difficult  and  complex  purposes 
*  This  was  at  Princeton,  in  1902  and  1903. 


148  Woodrow  Wilson 


which  we  must  conceive  and  carry  out,  not  only  does  it 
minister  to  my  own  modesty,  I  hope,  of  opinion,  but  it  also 
fills  me  with  a  very  great  enthusiasm.  It  is  a  splendid 
thing  to  be  part  of  a  great  wide-awake  Nation.  It  is  a 
5  splendid  thing  to  know  that  your  own  strength  is  infinitely 
multiplied  by  the  strength  of  other  men  who  love  the 
country  as  you  do.  It  is  a  splendid  thing  to  feel  that  the 
wholesome  blood  of  a  great  country  can  be  united  in  com 
mon  purposes,  and  that  by  frankly  looking  one  another  in 

10  the  face  and  taking  counsel  with  one  another,  prejudices 
will  drop  away,  handsome  understandings  will  arise,  a 
universal  spirit  of  service  will  be  engendered,  and  that  with 
this  increased  sense  of  community  of  purpose  will  come  a 
vastly  enhanced  individual  power  of  achievement;  for  we 

15  will  be  lifted  by  the  whole  mass  of  which  we  constitute  a 
part. 

Have  you  never  heard  a  great  chorus  of  trained  voices 
lift  the  voice  of  the  prima  donna  as  if  it  soared  with  easy 
grace  above  the  whole  melodious  sound?  It  does  not  seem 

20  to  come  from  the  single  throat  that  produces  it.  It  seems 
as  if  it  were  the  perfect  accent  and  crown  of  the  great 
chorus.  So  it  ought  to  be  with  the  statesman.  So  it  ought 
to  be  with  every  man  who  tries  to  guide  the  counsels  of  a 
great  nation.  He  should  feel  that  his  voice  is  lifted  upon 

25  the  chorus  and  that  it  is  only  the  crown  of  the  common 
theme. 


TO  NATURALIZED  CITIZENS 

[Address  delivered  at  Convention  Hall,  Philadelphia,  May  10, 1915. 
The  audience  included  four  thousand  newly  naturalized  citizens. 
This  speech  attracted  great  attention  because  in  it  no  reference  was 
made  to  the  sinking  of  the  "Lusitania,"  three  days  before.] 

MR.  MAYOR,  FELLOW-CITIZENS: 

It  warms  my  heart  that  you  should  give  me  such  a 
reception;  but  it  is  not  of  myself  that  I  wish  to  think  to 
night,  but  of  those  who  have  just  become  citizens  of  the 
United  States.  5 

This  is  the  only  country  in  the  world  which  experiences 
this  constant  and  repeated  rebirth.  Other  countries  de 
pend  upon  the  multiplication  of  their  own  native  people. 
This  country  is  constantly  drinking  strength  out  of  new 
sources  by  the  voluntary  association  with  it  of  great  10 
bodies  of  strong  men  and  forward-looking  women  out  of 
other  lands.  And  so  by  the  gift  of  the  free  will  of  independ 
ent  people  it  is  being  constantly  renewed  from  generation 
to  generation  by  the  same  process  by  which  it  was  orig 
inally  created.  It  is  as  if  humanity  had  determined  to  15 
see  to  it  that  this  great  Nation,  founded  for  the  benefit  of 
humanity,  should  not  lack  for  the  allegiance  of  the  people 
of  the  world. 

You  have  just  taken  an  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  United 
States.    Of  allegiance  to  whom?    Of  allegiance  to  no  one,  20 
unless  it  be  God — certainly  not  of  allegiance  to  those  who 
temporarily  represent  this  great  Government.    You  have 
taken  an  oath  of  allegiance  to  a  great  ideal,  to  a  great  body 
of  principles,  to  a  great  hope  of  the  human  race.    You  have 
said,  "  We  are  going  to  America  not  only  to  earn  a  living,  25 
not  only  to  seek  the  things  which  it  was  more  difficult  to 

149 


^  •          ;  gi/4 

150  Woodrow  Wilson 

obtain  where  we  were  born,  but  to  help  forward  the  great 
enterprises  of  the  human  spirit — to  let  men  know  that 
everywhere  in  the  world  there  are  men  who  will  cross 
strange  oceans  and  go  where  a  speech  is  spoken  which  is 
5  alien  to  them  if  they  can  but  satisfy  their  quest  for  what 
their  spirits  crave;  knowing  that  whatever  the  speech 
there  is  but  one  longing  and  utterance  of  the  human  heart, 
and  that  is  for  liberty  and  justice."  And  while  you  bring 
all  countries  with  you,  you  come  with  a  purpose  of  leaving 

10  all  other  countries  behind  you — bringing  what  is  best  of 
their  spirit,  but  not  looking  over  your  shoulders  and  seek 
ing  to  perpetuate  what  you  intended  to  leave  behind  in 
them.  I  certainly  would  not  be  one  even  to  suggest  that 
a  man  cease  to  love  the  home  of  his  birth  and  the  nation  of 

15  his  origin — these  things  are  very  sacred  and  ought  not  to 
be  put  out  of  our  hearts — but  it  is  one  thing  to  love  the 
place  where  you  were  born  and  it  is  another  thing  to 
dedicate  yourself  to  the  place  to  which  you  go.  You  can 
not  dedicate  yourself  to  America  unless  you  become  in 

20  every  respect  and  with  every  purpose  of  your  will  thorough 
Americans.  You  cannot  become  thorough  Americans  if 
you  think  of  yourselves  in  groups.  America  does  not  con 
sist  of  groups.  A  man  who  thinks  of  himself  as  belonging 
to  a  particular  national  group  in  America  has  not  yet 

25  become  an  American,  and  the  man  who  goes  among  you 
to  trade  upon  your  nationality  is  no  worthy  son  to  live 
under  the  Stars  and  Stripes. 

My  urgent  advice  to  you  would  be,  not  only  always  to 
think  first  of  America,  but  always,  also,  to  think  first  of 

30  humanity.  You  do  not  love  humanity  if  you  seek  to 
divide  humanity  into  jealous  camps.  Humanity  can  be 
welded  together  only  by  love,  by  sympathy,  by  justice,  not 
by  jealousy  and  hatred.  I  am  sorry  for  the  man  who  seeks 
to  make  personal  capital  out  of  the  passions  of  his  fellow- 


To  Naturalized  Citizens  151 

men.  He  has  lost  the  touch  and  ideal  of  America,  for 
America  was  created  to  unite  mankind  by  those  passions 
which  lift  and  not  by  the  passions  which  separate  and 
debase.  We  came  to  America,  either  ourselves  or  in  the 
persons  of  our  ancestors,  to  better  the  ideals  of  men,  to  5 
make  them  see  finer  things  than  they  had  seen  before,  to 
get  rid  of  the  things  that  divide  and  to  make  sure  of  the 
things  that  unite.  It  was  but  an  historical  accident  no 
doubt  that  this  great  country  was  called  the  "United 
States";  yet  I  am  very  thankful  that  it  has  that  word  10 
" United"  in  its  title,  and  the  man  who  seeks  to  divide 
man  from  man,  group  from  group,  interest  from  interest 
in  this  great  Union  is  striking  at  its  very  heart. 

It  is  a  very  interesting  circumstance  to  me,  in  thinking 
of  those  of  you  who  have  just  sworn  allegiance  to  this  great  15 
Government,  that  you  were  drawn  across  the  ocean  by 
some  beckoning  finger  of  hope,  by  some  belief,  by  some 
vision  of  a  new  kind  of  justice,  by  some  expectation  of  a 
better  kind  of  life.  No  doubt  you  have  been  disappointed 
in  some  of  us.  Some  of  us  are  very  disappointing.  No  20 
doubt  you  have  found  that  justice  in  the  United  States 
goes  only  with  a  pure  heart  and  a  right  purpose  as  it  does 
everywhere  else  in  the  world.  No  doubt  what  you  found 
here  did  not  seem  touched  for  you,  after  all,  with  the 
complete  beauty  of  the  ideal  which  you  had  conceived  25 
beforehand.  But  remember  this:  If  wre  had  grown  at  all 
poor  in  the  ideal,  you  brought  some  of  it  with  you.  A  man 
does  not  go  out  to  seek  the  thing  that  is  not  in  him.  A  man 
does  not  hope  for  the  thing  that  he  does  not  believe  in,  and 
if  some  of  us  have  forgotten  what  America  believed  in,  you,  30 
at  any  rate,  imported  in  your  own  hearts  a  renewal  of  the 
belief.  That  is  the  reason  that  I,  for  one,  make  you  wel 
come.  If  I  have  in  any  degree  forgotten  what  America  was 
intended  for,  I  will  thank  God  if  you  will  remind  me.  I 


., 


152  Woodrow  Wilson 

was  born  in  America.     You  dreamed   dreams  of  what 
America  was  to  be,  and  I  hope  you  brought  the  dreams  with 
you.    No  man  that  does  not  see  visions  will  ever  realize 
any  high  hope  or  undertake  any  high  enterprise.     Just 
5  because  you  brought  dreams  with  you,  America  is  more 
likely  to  realize  dreams  such  as  you  brought.    You  are  en 
riching  us  if  you  came  expecting  us  to  be  better  than  we  are. 
See,  my  friends,   what  that  means.     It  means  that 
Americans  must  have  a  consciousness  different  from  the 

"io  consciousness  of  every  other  nation  in  the  world.  I  am 
not  saying  this  with  even  the  slightest  thought  of  criticism 
of  other  nations.  You  know  how  it  is  with  a  family.  A 
family  gets  centered  on  itself  if  it  is  not  careful  and  is  less 
interested  in  the  neighbors  than  it  is  in  its  own  members. 

15  So  a  nation  that  is  not  constantly  renewed  out  of  new 
sources  is  apt  to  have  the  narrowness  and  prejudice  of  a 
family;  whereas,  America  must  have  this  consciousness, 
that  on  all  sides  it  touches  elbows  and  touches  hearts 
with  all  the  nations  of  mankind.  The  example  of  America 

20  must  be  a  special  example.  The  example  of  America 
must  be  the  example  not  merely  of  peace  because  it  will 
not  fight,  but  of  peace  because  peace  is  the  healing  and 
elevating  influence  of  the  world  and  strife  is  not.  There 
is  such  a  thing  as  a  man  being  too  proud  to  fight.  There 

25  is  such  a  thing  as  a  nation  being  so  right  that  it  does  not 
need  to  convince  others  by  force  that  it  is  right. 

You  have  come  into  this  great  Nation  voluntarily 
seeking  something  that  we  have  to  give,  and  all  that  we 
have  to  give  is  this:  We  cannot  exempt  you  from  work. 

30  No  man  is  exempt  from  work  anywhere  in  the  world. 
We  cannot  exempt  you  from  the  strife  and  the  heart 
breaking  burden  of  the  struggle  of  the  day — that  is  com 
mon  to  mankind  everywhere;  we  cannot  exempt  you  from 
the  loads  that  you  must  carry.  We  can  only  make  them 


To  Naturalized  Citizens  153 

light  by  the  spirit  in  which  they  are  carried.  That  is  the 
spirit  of  hope,  it  is  the  spirit  of  liberty,  it  is  the  spirit  of 
justice. 

When  I  was  asked,  therefore,  by  the  Mayor  and  the 
committee  that  accompanied  him  to  come  up  from  Wash-    5 
ington  to  meet  this  great  company  of  newly  admitted 
citizens,  I  could  not  decline  the  invitation.     I  ought  not 
to  be  away  from  Washington,  and  yet  I  feel  that  it  has 
renewed  my  spirit  as  an  American  to  be  here.    In  Wash 
ington  men  tell  you  so  many  things  every  day  that  are  10 
not  so,  and  I  like  to  come  and  stand  in  the  presence  of  a 
great   body   of   my   fellow-citizens,    whether   they   have 
been  fellow-citizens  a  long  time  or  a  short  time,  and  drink, 
as  it  were,  out  of  the  common  fountains  with  them  and 
go  back  feeling  what  you  have  so  generously  given  me —  15 
the  sense  of  your  support  and  of  the  living  vitality  in  your 
hearts  of  the  great  ideals  which  have  made  America  the 
hope  of  the  world. 


ADDRESS  AT  MILWAUKEE 

[Between  January  27  and  February  3, 1916,  President  Wilson  made 
a  series  of  speeches  in  New  York,  Pittsburgh,  Cleveland,  Milwaukee, 
Chicago,  Des  Moines,  Topeka,  Kansas  City,  and  St.  Louis.  The 
address  made  at  Milwaukee,  on  January  31,  has  been  chosen  as  repre 
senting  the  general  tenor  and  spirit  of  the  whole  series.] 

MR.  CHAIRMAN  AND  FELLOW-CITIZENS  : 

I  need  not  inquire  whether  the  citizens  of  Milwaukee 
and  Wisconsin  are  interested  in  the  subject  of  my  errand. 
The  presence  of  this  great  body  in  this  vast  hall  sufficiently 
5  attests  your  interest,  but  I  want  at  the  outset  to  remove 
a  misapprehension  that  I  fear  may  exist  in  your  mind. 
There  is  no  sudden  crisis;  nothing  new  has  happened;  I 
am  not  out  upon  this  errand  because  of  any  unexpected 
situation.  I  have  come  to  confer  with  you  upon  a  matter 

10  upon  which  it  would,  in  any  circumstances,  be  necessary 
for  us  to  confer  when  all  the  rest  of  the  world  is  on  fire  and 
our  own  house  is  not  fireproof.  Everywhere  the  atmos 
phere  of  the  world  is  thrilling  with  the  passion  of  a  dis 
turbance  such  as  the  world  has  never  seen  before,  and  it 

15  is  wise,  in  the  words  just  uttered  by  your  chairman,  that 
we  should  see  that  our  own  house  is  set  in  order  and  that 
everything  is  done  to  make  certain  that  we  shall  not  suffer 
by  the  general  conflagration. 

There  were  some  dangers  to  which  this  Nation  seemed 

20  at  the  outset  of  the  war  to  be  exposed,  which,  I  think  I  can 
say  with  confidence,  are  now  passed  and  overcome. 
America  has  drawn  her  blood  and  her  strength  out  of 
almost  all  the  nations  of  the  world.  It  is  true  of  a  great 
many  of  us  that  there  lies  deep  in  our  hearts  the  recollec- 

25  tion  of  an  origin  which  is  not  American.    We  are  aware 


Address  at  Milwaukee  155 

that  our  roots,  our  traditions,  run  back  into  other  na 
tional  soils.  There  are  songs  that  stir  us;  there  are  some 
far-away  historical  recollections  which  engage  our  affec 
tions  and  stir  our  memories.  We  cannot  forget  our  for 
bears;  we  cannot  altogether  ignore  the  fact  of  our  essential  5 
blood  relationship;  and  at  the  outset  of  this  war  it  did 
look  as  if  there  were  a  division  of  domestic  sentiment  which 
might  lead  us  to  some  errors  of  judgment  and  some  errors 
of  action;  but  I,  for  one,  believe  that  that  danger  is  passed. 
I  never  doubted  that  the  danger  was  exaggerated,  because  10 
I  had  learned  long  ago,  and  many  of  you  will  corroborate 
me  by  your  experience,  that  it  is  not  the  men  who  are  doing 
the  talking  always  who  represent  the  real  sentiments  of 
the  Nation.  I  for  my  part  always  feel  a  serene  confidence 
in  waiting  for  the  declaration  of  the  principles  and  senti-  15 
ments  of  the  men  who  are  not  vociferous,  do  not  go  about 
seeking  to  make  trouble,  do  their  own  thinking,  attend 
to  their  own  business,  and  love  their  own  country. 

I  have  at  no  time  supposed  that  the  men  whose  voices 
seemed  to  contain  the  threat  of  division  amongst  us  were  20 
really  uttering  the  sentiments  even  of  those  whom  they 
pretended  to  represent.  I  for  my  part  have  no  jealousy 
of  family  sentiment.  I  have  no  jealousy  of  that  deep 
affection  which  runs  back  through  long  lineage.  It  would 
be  a  pity  if  we  forget  the  fine  things  that  our  ancestors  25 
have  done.  But  I  also  know  the  magic  of  America;  I  also 
know  the  great  principles  which  thrill  men  in  the  singular 
body  politic  to  which  we  belong  in  the  United  States.  I 
know  the  impulses  which  have  drawn  men  to  our  shores. 
They  have  not  come  idly;  they  have  not  come  without  30 
conscious  purpose  to  be  free;  they  have  not  come  without 
voluntary  desire  to  unite  themselves  with  the  great  na 
tion  on  this  side  of  the  sea;  and  I  know  that  whenever 
the  test  comes  every  man's  heart  will  be  first  for  America. 


156  Woodrow  Wilson 

It  was  principle  and  affection  and  ambition  and  hope 
that  drew  men  to  these  shores,  and  they  are  not  going  to 
forget  the  errand  upon  which  they  came  and  allow  America, 
the  home  of  their  refuge  and  hope,  to  suffer  by  any  for- 
5  getfulness  on  their  part.  And  so  the  trouble  makers  have 
shot  their  bolt,  and  it  has  been  ineffectual.  Some  of  them 
have  been  vociferous;  all  of  them  have  been  exceedingly 
irresponsible.  Talk  was  cheap,  and  that  was  all  it  cost 
them.  They  did  not  have  to  do  anything.  But  you  will 

10  know  without  my  telling  you  that  the  man  whom  for  the 
time  being  you  have  charged  with  the  duties  of  President 
of  the  United  States  must  talk  with  a  deep  sense  of  re 
sponsibility,  and  he  must  remember,  above  all  things  else, 
the  fine  traditions  of  his  office  which  some  men  seem  to 

15  have  forgotten.  There  is  no  precedent  in  American  history 
for  any  action  of  aggression  on  the  part  of  the  United 
States  or  for  any  action  which  might  mean  that  America 
is  seeking  to  connect  herself  with  the  controversies  on  the 
other  side  of  the  water.  Men  who  seek  to  provoke  us  to 

20  such  action  have  forgotten  the  traditions  of  the  United 
States,  but  it  behooves  those  with  whom  you  have  en 
trusted  office  to  remember  the  traditions  of  the  United 
States  and  to  see  to  it  that  the  actions  of  the  Government 
are  made  to  square  with  those  traditions. 

25  But  there  are  other  dangers,  my  fellow-citizens,  which 
are  not  past  and  which  have  not  been  overcome,  and  they 
are  dangers  which  we  cannot  control.  We  can  control 
irresponsible  talkers  amidst  ourselves.  All  we  have  got 
to  do  is  to  encourage  them  to  hire  a  hall  and  their  folly 

30  will  be  abundantly  advertised  by  themselves.  But  we 
cannot  in  this  simple  fashion  control  the  dangers  that 
surround  us  now  and  have  surrounded  us  since  this  titanic 
struggle  on  the  other  side  of  the  water  began.  I  say  on 
the  other  side  of  the  water;  you  will  ask  me,  "On  the  other 


Address  at  Milwaukee  157 

side  of  which  water,"  for  this  great  struggle  has  extended 
to  all  quarters  of  the  globe.  There  is  no  continent  out 
side,  I  was  about  to  say,  of  this  Western  Hemisphere  which 
is  not  touched  with  it,  but  I  recollected  as  I  began  the 
sentence  that  a  part  of  our  own  continent  was  touched  with  5 
it,  because  it  involves  our  neighbors  to  the  north  in 
Canada.  There  is  no  part  of  the  world,  except  South 
America,  to  which  the  direct  influences  of  this  struggle 
have  not  extended,  so  that  now  we  are  completely  sur 
rounded  by  this  tremendous  disturbance  and  you  must  10 
realize  what  that  involves. 

Our  thoughts  are  concentrated  upon  our  own  affairs 
and  our  own  relations  to  the  rest  of  the  world,  but  the 
thoughts  of  the  men  who  are  engaged  in  this  struggle  are 
concentrated  upon  the  struggle  itself,  and  there  is  daily  15 
and  hourly  danger  that  they  will  feel  themselves  con 
strained  to  do  things  which  are  absolutely  inconsistent 
with  the  rights  of  the  United  States.  They  are  not  think 
ing  of  us.  I  am  not  criticising  them  for  not  thinking  of  us. 
I  dare  say  if  I  were  in  their  place  neither  would  I  think  20 
of  us.  They  believe  that  they  are  struggling  for  the  lives 
and  honor  of  their  nations,  and  that  if  the  United  States 
puts  its  interests  in  the  path  of  this  great  struggle,  she 
ought  to  know  beforehand  that  there  is  danger  of  very 
serious  misunderstanding  and  difficulty.  So  that  the  very  25 
uncalculating,  unpremeditated,  one  might  almost  say 
accidental,  course  of  affairs  may  touch  us  to  the  quick  at 
any  moment,  and  I  want  you  to  realize  that,  standing  in 
the  midst  of  these  difficulties,  I  feel  that  I  am  charged  with 
a  double  duty  of  the  utmost  difficulty.  In  the  first  place,  30 
I  know  that  you  are  depending  upon  me  to  keep  this 
Nation  out  of  the  war.  So  far  I  have  done  so,  and  I  pledge 
you  my  word  that,  God  helping  me,  I  will  If  it  is  possible. 
But  you  have  laid  another  duty  upon  me.  You  have 


158  Woodrow  Wilson 

bidden  me  to  see  it  that  nothing  stains  or  impairs  the 
honor  of  the  United  States,  and  that  is  a  matter  not  within 
my  control;  that  depends  upon  what  others  do,  not  upon 
what  the  Government  of  the  United  States  does.  There- 
5  fore  there  may  at  any  moment  come  a  time  when  I  cannot 
preserve  both  the  honor  and  the  peace  of  the  United 
States.  Do  not  exact  of  me  an  impossible  and  contradic 
tory  thing,  but  stand  ready  and  insistent  that  everybody 
who  represents  you  should  stand  ready  to  provide  the 

10  necessary  means  for  maintaining  the  honor  of  the  United 
States. 

I  sometimes  think  that  it  is  true  that  no  people  ever 
went  to  war  with  another  people.  Governments  have 
gone  to  war  with  one  another.  Peoples,  so  far  as  I  re- 

15  member,  have  not,  and  this  is  a  government  of  the  people, 
and  this  people  is  not  going  to  choose  war.  But  we  are 
not  dealing  with  people;  we  are  dealing  with  Govern 
ments.  We  are  dealing  with  Governments  now  engaged 
in  a  great  struggle,  and  therefore  we  do  not  know  what  a 

20  day  or  an  hour  will  bring  forth.  All  that  we  know  is  the 
character  of  our  own  duty.  We  do  not  want  the  question 
of  peace  and  war,  or  the  conduct  of  war,  entrusted  too 
entirely  to  our  Government.  We  want  war,  if  it  must 
come,  to  be  something  that  springs  out  of  the  sentiments 

25  and  principles  and  actions  of  the  people  themselves;  and 
it  is  on  that  account  that  I  am  counseling  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States  not  to  take  the  advice  of  those  who 
recommend  that  we  should  have,  and  have  very  soon,  a 
great  standing  Army,  but,  on  the  contrary,  to  see  to  it 

30  that  the  citizens  of  this  country  are  so  trained  and  that 

the  military  equipment  is  so  sufficiently  provided  for 

them  that  when  they  choose  they  can  take  up  arms  and 

defend  themselves. 

The   Constitution   of   the   United   States   makes   the 


Address  at  Milwaukee  159 

President  the  Commander  in  Chief  of  the  Army  and  Navy 
of  the  Nation,  but  I  do  not  want  a  big  Army  subject  to  my 
personal  command.  If  danger  comes,  I  want  to  turn  to 
you  and  the  rest  of  my  fellow-countrymen  and  say,  "Men, 
are  you  ready?"  and  I  know  what  the  response  will  be.  5 
I  know  that  there  will  spring  up  out  of  the  body  of  the 
Nation  a  great  host  of  free  men,  and  I  want  those  men  not 
to  be  mere  targets  for  shot  and  shell.  I  want  them  to 
know  something  of  the  arms  they  have  in  their  hands.  I 
want  them  to  know  something  about  how  to  guard  against  10 
the  diseases  that  creep  into  camps,  where  men  are  un 
accustomed  to  live.  I  want  them  to  know  something  of 
what  the  orders  mean  that  they  will  be.  under  when  they 
enlist  under  arms  for  the  Government  of  the  United  States. 
I  want  them  to  be  men  who  can  comprehend  and  easily  and  15 
intelligently  step  into  the  duty  of  national  defense.  That 
is  the  reason  that  I  am  urging  upon  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  at  any  rate  the  beginnings  of  a  system  by 
which  we  may  give  a  very  considerable  body  of  our  fellow- 
citizens  the  necessary  training.  20 

I  have  not  forgotten  the  great  National  Guard  of  this 
country,  but  in  this  country  of  100,000,000  people  there 
are  only  129,000  men  in  the  National  Guard;  and  the 
National  Guard,  fine  as  it  is,  is  not  subject  to  the  orders 
of  the  President  of  the  United  States.  It  is  subject  to  the  25 
orders  of  the  Governors  of  the  several  States,  and  the 
Constitution  itself  says  that  the  President  has  no  right  to 
withdraw  them  from  their  States  even,  except  in  the  case 
of  actual  invasion  of  the  soil  of  the  United  States.  I  want 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States  to  do  a  great  deal  for  the  30 
National  Guard,  but  I  do  not  see  how  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  can  put  the  National  Guard  at  the  disposal 
of  the  national  authorities.  Therefore  it  seems  to  me 
absolutely  necessary  that  in  addition  to  the  National 


160  Woodrow  Wilson 

Guard  there  should  be  a  considerable  body  of  men  with 
some  training  in  the  military  art  who  will  have  pledged 
themselves  to  come  at  the  call  of  the  Nation. 

I  have  been  told  by  those  who  have  a  greater  knack  at 
5  guessing  statistics  than  I  have  that  there  are  probably 
several  million  men  in  the  United  States  who,  either  in  this 
country  or  in  other  countries  from  which  they  have  come 
to  the  United  States,  have  received  training  in  arms.  It 
may  be;  I  do  not  know,  and  I  suspect  that  they  do  not 

10  either,  but  even  if  it  be  true,  these  men  are  not  subject  to 
the  call  of  the  Federal  Government.  They  would  have  to 
be  found;  they  would  have  to  be  induced  to  enlist;  they 
would  have  to  be  organized;  their  numbers  are  indefinite; 
and  they  would  have  to  be  equipped.  Such  are  not  the 

15  materials  which  we  need.  We  want  to  know  who  these 
men  are  and  where  they  are  and  to  have  everything  ready 
for  them  if  they  should  come  to  our  assistance.  For  we 
have  now  got  down,  not  to  the  sentiment  of  national  de 
fense,  but  to  the  business  of  national  defense.  It  is  a  busi- 

20  ness  proposition  and  it  must  be  treated  as  such.  And  there 
are  abundant  precedents  for  the  proposals  which  have 
been  made  to  the  Congress.  Even  that  arch-Democrat, 
Thomas  Jefferson,  believed  that  there  ought  to  be  com 
pulsory  military  training  for  the  adult  men  of  the  Nation, 

25  because  he  believed,  as  every  true  believer  in  democracy 
believes,  that  it  is  upon  the  voluntary  action  of  the  men  of  a 
great  Nation  like  this  that  it  must  depend  for  its  military 
force. 

There  is  another  misapprehension  that  I  want  to  remove 

30  from  your  minds:  Do  not  think  that  I  have  come  to  talk 
to  you  about  these  things  because  I  doubt  whether  they 
are  going  to  be  done  or  not.  I  do  not  doubt  it  for  a  mo 
ment,  but  I  believe  that  when  great  things  of  this  sort  are 
going  to  be  done  the  people  of  this  country  are  entitled  to 


Address  at  Milwaukee  161 

know  just  what  is  being  proposed.  As  a  friend  of  mine 
says,  I  am  not  arguing  with  you;  I  am  telling  you.  I  am 
not  trying  to  convert  you  to  anything,  because  I  know  that 
in  your  hearts  you  are  converted  already,  but  I  want  you 
to  know  the  motives  of  what  is  proposed  and  the  character  5 
of  what  is  proposed,  in  order  that  we  should  have  only  one 
attitude  and  counsel  with  regard  to  this  great  matter. 

It  is  being  very  sedulously  spread  abroad  in  this  country 
that  the  impulse  back  of  all  this  is  the  desire  of  men  who 
make  the  materials  of  warfare  to  get  money  out  of  the  10 
Treasury  of  the  United  States.  I  wish  the  people  that  say 
that  could  see  meetings  like  this.  Did  you  come  here  for 
that  purpose?  Did  you  come  here  because  you  are  in 
terested  to  see  some  of  your  fellow-citizens  make  money 
out  of  the  present  situation?  Of  course  you  did  not.  I  am  15 
ready  to  admit  that  probably  the  equipment  of  those  men 
whom  we  are  training  will  have  to  be  bought  from  some 
body,  and  I  know  that  if  the  equipment  is  bought,  it  will 
have  to  be  paid  for;  and  I  dare  say  somebody  will  make 
some  money  out  of  it.  It  is  also  true,  ladies  and  gentle-  20 
men,  that  there  are  men  now,  a  great  many  men,  in  the 
belligerent  countries  who  are  growing  rich  out  of  the  sale 
of  the  materials  needed  by  the  armies  of  those  countries. 
If  the  Government  itself  does  not  manufacture  everything 
that  an  army  needs,  somebody  has  got  to  make  money  out  25 
of  it,  and  I  for  my  part  have  been  urging  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States  to  make  the  necessary  preparations  by 
which  the  Government  can  manufacture  armor  plate  and 
munitions,  so  that,  being  in  the  business  itself  and  having 
the  ability  to  manufacture  all  it  needs,  if  it  is  put  upon  a  30 
business  basis,  it  can  at  any  rate  keep  the  price  that  it 
pays  within  moderate  and  reasonable  limits.  The  Govern 
ment  of  the  United  States  is  not  going  to  be  imposed  upon 
by  anybody,  and  you  may  rest  assured,  therefore,  that 


1 62  Woodrow  Wilson 

while  I  believe  you  prefer  that  private  capital  and  private 
initiative  should  bestir  themselves  in  these  matters,  it  is 
also  possible,  and  I  assure  you  that  it  is  most  likely,  that 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  will  have  adequate 
5  means  of  controlling  this  matter  very  thoroughly  indeed. 
There  need  be  no  fear  on  that  side.  Let  nobody  suppose 
that  this  is  a  money-making  agitation.  I  would  for  one  be 
ashamed  to  be  such  a  dupe  as  to  be  engaged  in  it  if  it  had 
any  suspicion  of  that  about  it,  but  I  am  not  as  innocent  as 

10  I  look;  and  I  believe  that  I  can  say  for  my  colleagues  in 
Washington  that  they  are  just  as  watchful  in  such  matters 
as  you  would  desire  them  to  be. 

And  there  is  another  misapprehension  that  I  do  not  wish 
you  to  entertain.    Do  not  suppose  that  there  is  any  new  or 

15  sudden  or  recent  inadequacy  on  the  part  of  this  Govern 
ment  in  respect  of  preparation  for  national  defense.  I 
have  heard  some  gentlemen  say  that  we  had  no  coast 
defenses  worth  talking  about.  Coast  defenses  are  not 
nowadays  advertised,  you  understand,  and  they  are  not 

20  visible  to  the  naked  eye,  so  that  if  you  passed  them  and 
nothing  exploded,  you  would  not  know  they  were  there. 
The  coast  defenses  of  the  United  States,  while  not  nu 
merous  enough,  are  equipped  in  the  most  modern  and 
efficient  fashion.  You  are  told  that  there  has  been  some 

25  sort  of  neglect  about  the  Navy.  There  has  not  been  any 
sort  of  neglect  about  the  Navy.  We  have  been  slowly 
building  up  a  Navy  which  in  quality  is  second  to  no  navy 
in  the  world.  The  only  thing  it  lacks  is  quantity.  In  size 
it  is  the  fourth  navy  in  the  world,  though  I  have  heard  it 

30  said  by  some  gentlemen  in  this  very  region  that  it  was  the 
second.  In  fighting  force,  though  not  in  quality,  it  is 
reckoned  by  experts  to  be  the  fourth  in  rank  in  the  world; 
and  yet  when  I  go  on  board  those  ships  and  see  their 
equipment  and  talk  with  their  officers  I  suspect  that  they 


Address  at  Milwaukee  163 

could  give  an  account  of  themselves  which  would  raise 
them  above  the  fourth  class.  It  reminds  me  of  that  very 
quaint  saying  of  the  old  darky  preacher,  "The  Lord  says 
unto  Moses,  come  fourth,  and  he  came  fifth  and  lost  the 
race."  But  I  think  this  Navy  would  not  come  fourth  in  5 
the  race,  but  higher. 

What  we  are  proposing  now  is  not  the  sudden  creation  of 
a  Navy,  for  we  have  a  splendid  Navy,  but  the  definite 
working  out  of  a  program  by  which  within  five  years  we 
shall  bring  the  Navy  to  a  fighting  strength  which  otherwise  10 
might  have  taken  eight  or  ten  years;  along  exactly  the 
same  lines  of  development  that  have  been  followed  and 
followed  diligently  and  intelligently  for  at  least  a  decade 
past.  There  is  no  sudden  panic,  there  is  no  sudden  change 
of  plan;  all  that  has  happened  is  that  we  now  see  that  we  15 
ought  more  rapidly  and  more  thoroughly  than  ever  before 
to  do  the  things  which  have  always  been  characteristic  of 
America.  For  she  has  always  been  proud  of  her  Navy  and 
has  always  been  addicted  to  the  principle  that  her  citizen 
ship  must  do  the  fighting  on  land.  We  are  working  out  20 
American  principle  a  little  faster,  because  American  pulses 
are  beating  a  little  faster,  because  the  world  is  in  a  whirl, 
because  there  are  incalculable  elements  of  trouble  abroad 
which  we  cannot  control  or  alter.  I  would  be  derelict  to 
the  duty  which  you  have  laid  upon  me  if  I  did  not  tell  you  25 
that  it  was  absolutely  necessary  to  carry  out  our  principles 
in  this  matter  now  and  at  once. 

And  yet  all  the  time,  my  fellow-citizens,  I  believe  that 
in  these  things  we  are  merely  interpreting  the  spirit  of 
America.  Who  shall  say  what  the  spirit  of  America  is?  30 
I  have  many  times  heard  orators  apostrophize  this  beauti 
ful  flag  which  is  the  emblem  of  the  Nation.  I  have  many 
times  heard  orators  and  philosophers  speak  of  the  spirit 
which  was  resident  in  America.  I  have  always  for  my  own 


164  Wood  row  Wilson 

part  felt  that  it  was  an  act  of  audacity  to  attempt  to  char 
acterize  anything  of  that  kind,  and  when  I  have  been  out 
side  of  the  country  in  foreign  lands  and  have  been  asked  if 
this,  that,  or  the  other  was  true  of  America  I  have  habit- 
5  ually  said,  "Nothing  stated  in  general  terms  is  true  of 
America,  because  it  is  the  most  variegated  and  varied  and 
multiform  land  under  the  sun."  Yet  I  know  that  if  you 
turn  away  from  the  physical  aspects  of  the  country,  if  you 
turn  away  from  the  variety  of  the  strains  of  blood  that 

10  make  up  our  great  population,  if  you  turn  away  from  the 

J  great  variations  of  occupation  and  of  interest  among  our 

fellow-citizens,  there  is  a  spiritual  unity  in  America.     I 

know  that  there  are  some  things  which  stir  every  heart  in 

America,  no  matter  what  the  racial  derivation  or  the  local 

15  environment,  and  one  of  the  things  that  stirs  every 
American  is  the  love  of  individual  liberty.  We  do  not 
stand  for  occupations.  We  do  not  stand  for  material 
interests.  We  do  not  stand  for  any  narrow  conception 
even  of  political  institutions;  but  we  do  stand  for  this,  that 

20  we  are  banded  together  in  America  to  see  to  it  that  na  man 
shall  serve  any  master  who  is  not  of  his  own  choosing.  And 
we  have  been  very  liberal  and  generous  about  this -idea. 
We  have  seen  great  peoples,  for  the  most  part  not  of  the 
same  blood  with  ourselves,  to  the  south  of  us  build  up 

25  polities  in  which  this  same  idea  pulsed  and  was  regnant, 
this  idea  of  free  institutions  and  individual  liberty,  and 
when  we  have  seen  hands  reached  across  the  water  from 
older  political  polities  to  interfere  with  the  development 
of  free  institutions  on  the  Western  Hemisphere  we  have 

30  said:  "No;  we  are  the  champions  of  the  freedom  of  popular 
sovereignty  wherever  it  displays  or  exercises  itself  through 
out  both  Americas."  We  are  the  champions  of  a  particular 
sort  of  freedom,  the  sort  of  freedom  which  is  the  only 
foundation  and  guarantee  of  peace. 


Address  at  Milwaukee  165 

Peace  lies  in  the  hearts  of  great  industrial  and  agricul 
tural  populations,  and  we  have  arranged  a  government  on 
this  side  of  the  water  by  which  their  preferences  and  their 
predilections  and  their  interests  are  the  mainsprings  of 
government  itself.  And  so  when  we  prepare  for  national  5 
defense  we  prepare  for  national  political  integrity;  we 
prepare  to  take  care  of  the  great  ideals  which  gave  birth 
to  this  Government;  we  are  going  back  in  spirit  and  in 
energy  to  those  great  first  generations  in  America,  when 
men  banded  themselves  together,  though  they  were  but  a  10 
handful  upon  a  single  coast  of  the  Atlantic,  to  set  up  in  the 
world  the  standards  which  have  ever  since  floated  every 
where  that  Americans  asserted  the  power  of  their  Govern 
ment.  As  I  came  along  the  line  of  the  railway  to-day,  I 
was  touched  to  observe  that  everywhere,  upon  every  15 
railway  station,  upon  every  house,  where  a  flag  could  be 
procured,  some  temporary  standard  had  been  raised  from 
which  there  floated  the  stars  and  stripes.  They  seemed  to 
have  divined  the  errand  upon  which  I  had  come,  to  remind 
you  that  we  must  subordinate  every  individual  interest  20 
and  every  local  interest  to  assert  once  more,  if  it  should  be 
necessary  to  assert  them,  the  great  principles  for  which 
that  flag  stands. 

Do  not  deceive  yourselves,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  as  to 
where  the  colors  of  that  flag  came  from.    Those  lines  of  red  25 
are  lines  of  blood,  nobly  and  unselfishly  shed  by  men  who 
loved  the  liberty  of  their  fellow-men  more  than  they  loved 
their  own  lives  and  fortunes.    God  forbid  that  we  should 
have  to  use  the  blood  of  America  to  freshen  the  color  of  that 
flag;  but  if  it  should  ever  be  necessary  again  to  assert  the  30 
majesty  and  integrity  of  those  ancient  and  honorable 
principles,  that  flag  will  be  colored  once  more,  and  in 
being  colored  will  be  glorified  and  purified. 


THE  SUBMARINE  QUESTION 

[Address  delivered  at  a  joint  session  of  the  two  Houses  of  Congress, 
April  19,  1916.] 

GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  CONGRESS: 

A  situation  has  arisen  in  the  foreign  relations  of  the 
country  of  which  it  is  my  plain  duty  to  inform  you  very 
frankly. 

5  It  will  be  recalled  that  in  February,  iqi.5,  the  Imperial 
German  Government  announced  its  intention  to  treat 
the  waters  surrounding  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  as  em 
braced  within  the  seat  of  war  and  to  destroy  all  merchant 
ships  owned  by  its  enemies  that  might  be  found  within 

10  any  part  of  that  portion  of  the  high  seas,  and  that  it  warned 
all  vessels,  of  neutral  as  well  as  of  belligerent  ownership, 
to  keep  out  of  the  waters  it  had  thus  proscribed  or  else 
enter  them  at  their  peril.  The  Government  of  the  United 
States  earnestly  protested.  It  took  the  position  that 

15  such  a  policy  could  not  be  pursued  without  the  practical 
certainty  of  gross  and  palpable  violations  of  the  law  of 
nations,  particularly  if  submarine  craft  were  to  be  em 
ployed  as  its  instruments,  inasmuch  as  the  rules  prescribed 
by  that  law,  rules  founded  upon  principles  of  humanity 

20  and  established  for  the  protection  of  the  lives  of  non- 
combatants  at  sea,  could  not  in  the  nature  of  the  case  be 
observed  by  such  vessels.  It  based  its  protest  on  the 
ground  that  persons  of  neutral  nationality  and  vessels  of 
neutral  ownership  would  be  exposed  to  extreme  and  in- 

25  tolerable  risks,  and  that  no  right  to  close  any  part  of  the 
high  seas  against  their  use  or  to  expose  them  to  such  risks 
could  lawfully  be  asserted  by  any  belligerent  government. 

166 


The  Submarine  Question  167 


The  law  of  nations  in  these  matters,  upon  which  the  Gov 
ernment  of  the  United  States  based  its  protest,  is  not  of 
recent  origin  or  founded  upon  merely  arbitrary  principles 
set  up  by  convention.  It  is  based,  on  the  contrary,  upon 
manifest  and  imperative  principles  of  humanity  and  has  5 
long  been  established  with  the  approval  and  by  the  ex 
press  assent  of  all  civilized  nations. 

Notwithstanding  the  earnest  protest  of  our  Govern 
ment,  the  Imperial  German  Government  at  once  pro 
ceeded  to  carry  out  the  policy  it  had  announced.     It  10 
expressed  the  hope  that  the  dangers  involved,  at  any  rate 
the  dangers  to  neutral  vessels,  would  be  reduced  to  a 
minimum  by  the  instructions  which  it  had  issued  to  its 
submarine  commanders,  and  assured  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  that  it  would  take  every  possible  pre-  15 
caution  both  to  respect  the  rights  of  neutrals  and  to  safe 
guard  the  lives  of  non-combatants. 

What  has  actually  happened  in  the  year  which  has 
since  elapsed  has  shown  that  those  hopes  were  not  justi 
fied,  those  assurances  insusceptible  of  being  fulfilled.  In  20 
pursuance  of  the  policy  of  submarine  warfare  against  the 
commerce  of  its  adversaries,  thus  announced  and  entered 
upon  by  the  Imperial  German  Government  in  despite  of 
the  solemn  protest  of  this  Government,  the  commanders 
of  German  undersea  vessels  have  attacked  merchant  ships  25 
with  greater  and  greater  activity,  not  only  upon  the  high 
seas  surrounding  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  but  wherever 
they  could  encounter  them,  in  a  way  that  has  grown  more 
and  more  ruthless,  more  and  more  indiscriminate  as  the 
months  have  gone  by,  less  and  less  observant  of  restraints  30 
of  any  kind;  and  have  delivered  their  attacks  without 
compunction  against  vessels  of  every  nationality  and 
bound  upon  every  sort  of  errand.  Vessels  of  neutral 
ownership,  even  vessels  of  neutral  ownership  bound  from 


1 68  Wood  row  Wilson 

neutral  port  to  neutral  port,  have  been  destroyed  along 
with  vessels  of  belligerent  ownership  in  constantly  increas 
ing  numbers.  Sometimes  the  merchantman  attacked  has. 
been  warned  and  summoned  to  surrender  before  being 

5  fired  on  or  torpedoed;  sometimes  passengers  or  crews  have 
been  vouchsafed  the  poor  security  of  being  allowed  to 
take  to  the  ship's  boats  before  she  was  sent  to  the  bottom. 
But  again  and  again  no  warning  has  been  given,  no  escape 
even  to  the  ship's  boats  allowed  to  those  on  board.  What 

10  this  Government  foresaw  must  happen  has  happened. 
Tragedy  has  followed  tragedy  on  the  seas  in  such  fashion, 
with  such  attendant  circumstances,  as  to  make  it  grossly 
evident  that  warfare  of  such  a  sort,  if  warfare  it  be,  cannot 
be  carried  on  without  the  most  palpable  violation  of  the 

15  dictates  alike  of  right  and  of  humanity.  Whatever  the 
disposition  and  intention  of  the  Imperial  German  Gov 
ernment,  it  has  manifestly  proved  impossible  for  it  to 
keep  such  methods  of  attack  upon  the  commerce  of  its 
enemies  within  the  bounds  set  by  either  the  reason  or  the 

20  heart  of  mankind. 

In  February  of  the  present  year  the  Imperial  German 
Government  informed  this  Government  and  the  other 
neutral  governments  of  the  world  that  it  had  reason  to 
believe  that  the  Government  of  Great  Britain  had  armed 

25  all  merchant  vessels  of  British  ownership  and  had  given 
them  secret  orders  to  attack  any  submarine  of  the  enemy 
they  might  encounter  upon  the  seas,  and  that  the  Imperial 
German  Government  felt  justified  in  the  circumstances  in 
treating  all  armed  merchantmen  of  belligerent  ownership 

30  as  auxiliary  vessels  of  war,  which  it  would  have  the  right 
to  destroy  without  warning.  The  law  of  nations  has  long 
recognized  the  right  of  merchantmen  to  carry  arms  for 
protection  and  to  use  them  to  repel  attack,  though  to 
use  them,  in  such  circumstances,  at  their  own  risk;  but  the 


The  Submarine  Question  169 

Imperial  German  Government  claimed  the  right  to  set 
these  understandings  aside  in  circumstances  which  it 
deemed  extraordinary.  Even  the  terms  in  which  it  an 
nounced  its  purpose  thus  still  further  to  relax  the  restraints 
it  had  previously  professed  its  willingness  and  desire  to  5 
put  upon  the  operations  of  its  submarines  carried  the  plain 
implication  that  at  least  vessels  which  were  not  armed 
would  still  be  exempt  from  destruction  without  warning 
and  that  personal  safety  would  be  accorded  their  passen 
gers  and  crews;  but  even  that  limitation,  if  it  was  ever  10 
practicable  to  observe  it,  has  in  fact  constituted  no  check 
at  all  upon  the  destruction  of  ships  of  every  sort. 

Again  and  again  the  Imperial  German  Government 
has  given  this  Government  its  solemn  assurances  that  at 
least  passenger  ships  would  not  be  thus  dealt  with,  and  15 
yet  it  has  again  and  again  permitted  its  undersea  com 
manders  to  disregard  those  assurances  with  entire  im 
punity.  Great  liners  like  the  Lusitania  and  the  Arabic 
and  mere  ferryboats  like  the  Sussex  have  been  attacked 
without  a  moment's  warning,  sometimes  before  they  had  20 
even  become  aware  that  they  were  in  the  presence  of  an 
armed  vessel  of  the  enemy,  and  the  lives  of  non-combat 
ants,  passengers  and  crew,  have  been  sacrificed  wholesale, 
in  a  manner  which  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
cannot  but  regard  as  wanton  and  without  the  slightest  25 
color  of  justification.  No  limit  of  any  kind  has  in  fact 
been  set  to  the  indiscriminate  pursuit  and  destruction  of 
merchantmen  of  all  kinds  and  nationalities  within  the 
waters,  constantly  extending  in  area,  where  these  opera 
tions  have  been  carried  on;  and  the  roll  of  Americans  30 
who  have  lost  their  lives  on  ships  thus  attacked  and  de 
stroyed  has  grown  month  by  month  until  the  ominous 
toll  has  mounted  into  the  hundreds. 

One  of  the  latest  and  most  shocking  instances  of  this 


170  Woodrow  Wilson 

method  'of  warfare  was  that  of  the  destruction  of  the 
French  cross-Channel  steamer  Sussex.  It  must  stand 
forth,  as  the  sinking  of  the  steamer  Lusitania  did,  as  so 
singularly  tragical  and  unjustifiable  as  to  constitute  a 
5  truly  terrible  example  of  the  inhumanity  of  submarine 
warfare  as  the  commanders  of  German  vessels  have  for 
the  past  twelvemonth  been  conducting  it.  If  this  instance 
stood  alone,  some  explanation,  some  disavowal  by  the 
German  Government,  some  evidence  of  criminal  mistake 

10  or  wilful  disobedience  on  the  part  of  the  commander  of  the 
vessel  that  fired  the  torpedo  might  be  sought  or  enter 
tained;  but  unhappily  it  does  not  stand  alone.  Recent 
events  make  the  conclusion  inevitable  that  it  is  only  one 
instance,  even  though  it  be  one  of  the  most  extreme  and 

15  distressing  instances,  of  the  spirit  and  method  of  warfare 
which  the  Imperial  German  Government  has  mistakenly 
adopted,  and  which  from  the  first  exposed  that  Govern 
ment  to  the  reproach  of  thrusting  all  neutral  rights  aside 
in  pursuit  of  its  immediate  objects. 

20  The  Government  of  the  United  States  has  been  very 
patient.  At  every  stage  of  this  distressing  experience  of 
tragedy  after  tragedy  in  which  its  own  citizens  were  in 
volved  it  has  sought  to  .be  restrained  from  any  extreme 
course  of  action  or  of  protest  by  a  thoughtful  considera- 

25  tion  of  the  extraordinary  circumstances  of  this  unprec 
edented  war,  and  actuated  in  all  that  it  said  or  did  by 
the  sentiments  of  genuine  friendship  which  the  people  of 
the  United  States  have  always  entertained  and  continue 
to  entertain  towards  the  German  nation.  It  has  of  course 

30  accepted  the  successive  explanations  and  assurances  of 
the  Imperial  German  Government  as  given  in  entire  sin 
cerity  and  good  faith,  and  has  hoped,  even  against  hope, 
that  it  would  prove  to  be  possible  for  the  German  Govern 
ment  so  to  order  and  control  the  acts  of  its  naval  com- 


The  Submarine  Question  171 

manders  as  to  square  its  policy  with  the  principles  of  hu 
manity  as  embodied  in  the  law  of  nations.  It  has  been 
willing  to  wait  until  the  significance  of  the  facts  became 
absolutely  unmistakable  and  susceptible  of  but  one  in 
terpretation.  5 

That  point  has  now  unhappily  been  reached.  The  facts 
are  susceptible  of  but  one  interpretation.  The  Imperial 
German  Government  has  been  unable  to  put  any  limits 
or  restraints  upon  its  warfare  against  either  freight  or 
passenger  ships.  It  has  therefore  become  painfully  evi-  10 
dent  that  the  position  which  this  Government  took  at  the 
very  outset  is  inevitable,  namely,  that  the  use  of  sub 
marines  for  the  destruction  of  an  enemy's  commerce  is  of 
necessity,  because  of  the  very  character  of  the  vessels 
employed  and  the  very  methods  of  attack  which  their  15 
employment  of  course  involves,  incompatible  with  the 
principles  of  humanity,  the  long  established  and  incon 
trovertible  rights  of  neutrals,  and  the  sacred  immunities 
of  non-combatants. 

I  have  deemed  it  my  duty,  therefore,  to  say  to  the  Im-  20 
perial  German  Government  that  if  it  is  still  its  purpose 
to  prosecute  relentless  and  indiscriminate  warfare  against 
vessels  of  commerce  by  the  use  of  submarines,  notwith 
standing  the  now  demonstrated  impossibility  of  conduct 
ing  that  warfare  in  accordance  with  what  the  Government  25 
of  the  United  States  must  consider  the  sacred  and  indis 
putable  rules  of  international  law  and  the  universally 
recognized  dictates  of  humanity,  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  is  at  last  forced  to  the  conclusion  that 
there  is  but  one  course  it  can  pursue;  and  that  unless  the  30 
Imperial  German  Government  should  now  immediately 
declare  and  effect  an  abandonment  of  its  present  methods 
of  warfare  against  passenger  and  freight  carrying  vessels 
this  Government  can  have  no  choice  but  to  sever  diplo- 


172  Woodrow  Wilson 

ma  tic  relations  with   the  Government  of  the   German 
Empire  altogether. 

This  decision  I  have  arrived  at  with  the  keenest  regret; 
the  possibility  of  the  action  contemplated  I  am  sure  all 

5  thoughtful  Americans  will  look  forward  to  with  unaffected 
reluctance.  But  we  cannot  forget  that  we  are  in  some 
sort  and  by  the  force  of  circumstances  the  responsible 
spokesmen  of  the  rights  of  humanity,  and  that  we  cannot 
remain  silent  while  those  rights  seem  in  process  of  being 

10  swept  utterly  away  in  the  maelstrom  of  this  terrible  war. 
We  owe  it  to  a  due  regard  for  our  own  rights  as  a  nation, 
to  our  sense  of  duty  as  a  representative  of  the  rights  of 
neutrals  the  world  over,  and  to  a  just  conception  of  the 
rights  of  mankind  to  take  this  stand  now  with  the  utmost 

15  solemnity  and  firmness. 

I  have  taken  it,  and  taken  it  in  the  confidence  that  it 
will  meet  with  your  approval  and  support.  All  sober- 
minded  men  must  unite  in  hoping  that  the  Imperial 
German  Government,  which  has  in  other  circumstances 

20  stood  as  the  champion  of  all  that  we  are  now  contending 
for  in  the  interest  of  humanity,  may  recognize  the  justice 
of  our  demands  and  meet  them  in  the  spirit  in  which  they 
are  made. 


AMERICAN  PRINCIPLES 

[Address  delivered  at  the  First  Annual  Assemblage  of  the  League 
to  Enforce  Peace,  May  27,  1916.] 

When  the  invitation  to  be  here  to-night  came  to  me,  I 
was  glad  to  accept  it, — not  because  it  offered  me  an  oppor 
tunity  to  discuss  the  program  of  the  League, — that  you 
will,  I  am  sure,  not  expect  of  me, — but  because  the  desire 
of  the  whole  world  now  turns  eagerly,  more  and  more  5 
eagerly,  towards  the  hope  of  peace,  and  there  is  just  reason 
why  we  should  take  our  part  in  counsel  upon  this  great 
theme.  It  is  right  that  I,  as  spokesman  of  our  Govern 
ment,  should  attempt  to  give  expression  to  what  I  believe 
to  be  the  thought  and  purpose  of  the  people  of  the  United  10 
States  in  this  vital  matter. 

This  great  war  that  broke  so  suddenly  upon  the  world 
two  years  ago,  and  which  has  swept  within  its  flame  so 
great  a  part  of  the  civilized  world,  has  affected  us  very 
profoundly,  and  we  are  not  only  at  liberty,  it  is  perhaps  15 
our  duty,  to  speak  very  frankly  of  it  and  of  the  great 
interests  of  civilization  which  it  affects. 

With  its  causes  and  its  objects  we  are  not  concerned. 
The  obscure  fountains  from  which  its  stupendous  flood 
has  burst  forth  we  are  not  interested  to  search  for  or  ex-  20 
plore.    But  so  great  a  flood,  spread  far  and  wide  to  every 
quarter  of  the  globe,  has  of  necessity  engulfed  many  a 
fair  province  of  right  that  lies  very  near  to  us.    Our  own 
rights  as  a  Nation,  the  liberties,  the  privileges,  and  the 
property  of  our  people  have  been  profoundly  affected.    We  25 
are  not  mere  disconnected  lookers-on.     The  longer  the 
war  lasts,  the  more  deeply  do  we  become  concerned  that 


/U*j 

r 

174  Woodrow  Wilson 

it  should  be  brought  to  an  end  and  the  world  be  permitted 
to  resume  its  normal  life  and  course  again.  And  when  it 
does  come  to  an  end  we  shall  be  as  much  concerned  as  the 
nations  at  war  to  see  peace  assume  an  aspect  of  per- 
5  manence,  give  promise  of  days  from  which  the  anxiety  of 
uncertainty  shall  be  lifted,  bring  some  assurance  that  peace 
and  war  shall  always  hereafter  be  reckoned  part  of  the 
common  interest  of  mankind.  We  are  participants, 
whether  we  would  or  not,  in  the  life  of  the  world.  The 

10  interests  of  all  nations  are  our  own  also.    We  are  partners 

with  the  rest.    What  affects  mankind  is  inevitably  our  affair 

as  well  as  the  affair  of  the  nations  of  Europe  and  of  Asia. 

One  observation  on  the  causes  of  the  present  war  we 

are  at  liberty  to  make,  and  to  make  it  may  throw  some 

15  light  forward  upon  the  future,  as  well  as  backward  upon 
the  past.  It  is  plain  that  this  war  could  have  come  only 
as  it  did,  suddenly  and  out  of  secret  counsels,  without 
warning  to  the  world,  without  discussion,  without  any  of 
the  deliberate  movements  of  counsel  with  which  it  would 

20  seem  natural  to  approach  so  stupendous  a  contest.  It  is 
probable  that  if  it  had  been  foreseen  just  what  would  hap 
pen,  just  what  alliances  would  be  formed,  just  what  forces 
arrayed  against  one  another,  those  who  brought  the  great 
contest  on  would  have  been  glad  to  substitute  conference 

25  for  force.  If  we  ourselves  had  been  afforded  some  oppor 
tunity  to  apprise  the  belligerents  of  the  attitude  which  it 
would  be  our  duty  to  take,  of  the  policies  and  practices 
against  which  we  would  feel  bound  to  use  all  our  moral 
and  economic  strength,  and  in  certain  circumstances  even 

30  our  physical  strength  also,  our  own  contribution  to  the 
counsel  which  might  have  averted  the  struggle  would  have 
been  considered  worth  weighing  and  regarding. 

And  the  lesson  which  the  shock  of  being  taken  by  sur 
prise  in  a  matter  so  deeply  vital  to  all  the  nations  of  the 


American  Principles  175 

world  has  made  poignantly  clear  is,  that  the  peace  of  the 
world  must  henceforth  depend  upon  a  new  and  more 
wholesome  diplomacy X  Only  when  the  great  nations  of  the 
world  have  reached  some  sort  of  agreement  as  to  what 
they  hold  to  be  fundamental  to  their  common  interest,  5 
and  as  to  some  feasible  method  of  acting  in  concert  when 
any  nation  or  group  of  nations  seeks  to  disturb  those 
fundamental  things,  can  we  feel  that  civilization  is  at 
last  in  a  way  of  justifying  its  existence  and  claiming  to  be 
finally  established.  It  is  clear  that  nations  must  in  the  10 
future  be  governed  by  the  same  high  code  of  honor  that 
we  demand  of  individuals. 

We  must,  indeed,  in  the  very  same  breath  with  which  we 
avow  this  conviction  admit  that  we  have  ourselves  upon 
occasion  in  the  past  been  offenders  against  the  law  of  15 
diplomacy  which  we  thus  forecast;  but  our  conviction  is 
not  the  less  clear,  but  rather  the  more  clear,  on  that  ac 
count.    If  this  war  has  accomplished  nothing  else  for  the 
benefit  of  the  world,  it  has  at  least  disclosed  a  great  moral 
necessity  and  set  forward  the  thinking  of  the  statesmen  of  20 
the  world  by  a  whole  age.     Repeated  utterances  of  the 
leading  statesmen  of  most  of  the  great  nations  now  en-  ' 
gaged  in  war  have  made  it  plain  that  their  thought  has 
come  to  this,  that  the  principle  of  public  right  must  hence 
forth   take  precedence  over  the  individual  interests  of  25 
particular  nations,  and  that  the  nations  of  the  world  must  . 
in  some  way  band  themselves  together  to  see  that  that 
right  prevails  as  against  any  sort  of  selfish  aggression ;  that 
henceforth  alliance  must  not  be  set  up  against  alliance, 
understanding   against    understanding,    but    that    there  30 
must  be  a  common  agreement  for  a  common  object,  and 
that  at  the  heart  of  that  common  object  must  lie  the 
inviolable  rights  of  peoples  and  of  mankind.    The  nations 
of  the  world  have  become  each  other's  neighbors.    It  is 


176  Woodrow  Wilson 

to  their  interest  that  they  should  understand  each  other. 
In  order  that  they  may  understand  each  other,  it  is 
imperative  that  they  should  agree  to  cooperate  in  a  com 
mon  cause,  and  that  they  should  so  act  that  the  guiding 
5  principle  of  that  common  cause  shall  be  even-handed  and 
impartial  justice. 

This  is  undoubtedly  the  thought  of  America.  This  is 
what  we  ourselves  will  say  when  there  comes  proper  occa 
sion  to  say  it.  In  the  dealings  of  nations  with  one  another 

10  arbitrary  force  must  be  rejected  and  we  must  move  for 
ward  to  the  thought  of  the  modern  world,  the  thought  of 
which  peace  is  the  very  atmosphere.    That  thought  consti 
tutes  a  chief  part  of  the  passionate  conviction  of  America. 
We  believe  these  fundamental  things:  First,  that  every 

15  people  has  a  right  to  choose  the  sovereignty  under  which 
they  shall  live.  Like  other  nations,  we  have  ourselves  no 
doubt  once  and  again  offended  against  that  principle  when 
for  a  little  while  controlled  by  selfish  passion,  as  our  franker 
historians  have  been  honorable  enough  to  admit;  but  it 

20  has  become  more  and  more  our  rule  of  life  and  action. 
Second,  that  the  small  states  of  the  world  have  a  right  to 
enjoy  the  same  respect  for  their  sovereignty  and  for  their 
territorial  integrity  that  great  and  powerful  nations  expect 
and  insist  upon.  And,  third,  that  the  world  has  a  right  to 

25  be  free  from  every  disturbance  of  its  peace  that  has  its 
origin  in  aggression  and  disregard  of  the  rights  of  peoples 
and  nations. 

So  sincerely  do  we  believe  in  these  things  that  I  am  sure 
that  I  speak  the  mind  and  wish  of  the  people  of  America 

30  when  I  say  that  the  United  States  is  willing  to  become  a 
partner  in  any  feasible  association  of  nations  formed  in 
order  to  realize  these  objects  and  make  them  secure 
against  violation. 

There  is  nothing  that  the  United  States  wants  for  itself 


American  Principles  177 

that  any  other  nation  has.  We  are  willing,  on  the  con 
trary,  to  limit  ourselves  along  with  them  to  a  prescribed 
course  of  duty  and  respect  for  the  rights  of  others  which 
will  check  any  selfish  passion  of  our  own,  as  it  will  check 
any  aggressive  impulse  of  theirs.  5 

If  it  should  ever  be  our  privilege  to  suggest  or  initiate  a 
movement  for  peace  among  the  nations  now  at  war,  I  am 
sure  that  the  people  of  the  United  States  would  wish  their 
Government  to  move  along  these  lines:  First,  such  a 
settlement  with  regard  to  their  own  immediate  interests  10 
as  the  belligerents  may  agree  upon.  We  have  nothing 
material  of  any  kind  to  ask  for  ourselves,  and  are  quite 
aware  that, we  are  in  no  sense  or  degree  parties  to  the 
present  quarrel.  Our  interest  is  only  in  peace  and  its 
future  guarantees.  Second,  an  universal  association  of  the  15 
nations  to  maintain  the  inviolate  security  of  the  highway 
of  the  seas  for  the  common  and  unhindered  use  of  all  the 
nations  of  the  world,  and  to  prevent  any  war  begun  either 
contrary  to  treaty  covenants  or  without  warning  and  full 
submission  of  the  causes  to  the  opinion  of  the  world, — a  20 
virtual  guarantee  of  territorial  integrity  and  political 
independence. 

But  I  did  not  come  here,  let  me  repeat,  to  discuss  a 
program.  I  came  only  to  avow  a  creed  and  give  ex 
pression  to  the  confidence  I  feel  that  the  world  is  even  25 
now  upon  the  eve  of  a  great  consummation,  when  some 
common  force  will  be  brought  into  existence  which  shall 
safeguard  right  as  the  first  and  most  fundamental  interest 
of  all  peoples  and  all  governments,  when  coercion  shall  be 
summoned  not  to  the  service  of  political  ambition  or  30 
selfish  hostility,  but  to  the  service  of  a  common  order,  a 
common  justice,  and  a  common  peace.  God  grant  that  the 
dawn  of  that  day  of  frank  dealing  and  of  settled  peace, 
concord,  and  cooperation  may  be  near  at  hand! 


THE  DEMANDS  OF  RAILWAY  EMPLOYEES 

[Address  delivered  at  a  joint  session  of  the  two  Houses  of  Congress, 
August  29,  1916.] 

GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  CONGRESS: 

I  have  come  to  you  to  seek  your  assistance  in  dealing 
with  a  very  grave  situation  which  has  arisen  out  of  the 
demand  of  the  employees  of  the  railroads  engaged  in 

5  freight  train  service  that  they  be  granted  an  eight-hour 
working  day,  safeguarded  by  payment  for  an  hour  and  a 
half  of  service  for  every  hour  of  work  beyond  the  eight. 

The  matter  has  been  agitated  for  more  than  a  year.  The 
public  has  been  made  familiar  with  the  demands  of  the 

10  men  and  the  arguments  urged  in  favor  of  them,  and  even 
more  familiar  with  the  objections  of  the  railroads  and 
their  counter  demand  that  certain  privileges  now  enjoyed 
by  their  men  and  certain  bases  of  payment  worked  out 
through  many  years  of  contest  be  reconsidered,  especially 

15  in  their  relation  to  the  adoption  of  an  eight-hour  day. 
The  matter  came  some  three  weeks  ago  to  a  final  issue  and 
resulted  in  a  complete  deadlock  between  the  parties. 
The  means  provided  by  law  for  the  mediation  of  the  con 
troversy  failed  and  the  means  of  arbitration  for  which  the 

20  law  provides  were  rejected.  The  representatives  of  the 
railway  executives  proposed  that  the  demands  of  the 
men  be  submitted  in  their  entirety  to  arbitration,  along 
with  certain  questions  of  readjustment  as  to  pay  and  con 
ditions  of  employment  which  seemed  to  them  to  be  either 

25  closely  associated  with  the  demands  or  to  call  for  recon 
sideration  on  their  own  merits;  the  men  absolutely  de 
clined  arbitration,  especially  if  any  of  their  established 

178 


The  Demands  of  Railway  Employees     179 

privileges  were  by  that  means  to  be  drawn  again  in  ques 
tion.  The  law  in  the  matter  put  no  compulsion  upon 
them.  The  four  hundred  thousand  men  from  whom  the 
demands  proceeded  had  voted  to  strike  if  their  demands 
were  refused;  the  strike  was  imminent;  it  has  since  been  5 
set  for  the  fourth  of  September  next.  It  affects  the  men 
who  man  the  freight  trains  on  practically  every  railway 
in  the  country.  The  freight  service  throughout  the  United 
States  must  stand  still  until  their  places  are  filled,  if, 
indeed,  it  should  prove  possible  to  fill  them  at  all.  Cities  10 
will  be  cut  off  from  their  food  supplies,  the  whole  com 
merce  of  the  nation  will  be  paralyzed,  men  of  every  sort 
and  occupation  will  be  thrown  out  of  employment,  count 
less  thousands  will  in  all  likelihood  be  brought,  it  may  be, 
to  the  very  point  of  starvation,  and  a  tragical  national  15 
calamity  brought  on,  to  be  added  to  the  other  distresses 
of  the  time,  because  no  basis  of  accommodation  or  settle 
ment  has  been  found. 

Just  so  soon  as  it  became  evident  that  mediation  under 
the  existing  law  had  failed  and  that  arbitration  had  been  20 
rendered  impossible  by  the  attitude  of  the  men,  I  con 
sidered  it  my  duty  to  confer  with  the  representatives  of 
both  the  railways  and  the  brotherhoods,  and  myself  offer 
mediation,  not  as  an  arbitrator,  but  merely  as  spokesman 
of  the  nation,  in  the  interest  of  justice,  indeed,  and  as  a  25 
friend  of  both  parties,  but  not  as  judge,  only  as  the  repre 
sentative  of  one  hundred  millions  of  men,  women,  and 
children  who  would  pay  the  price,  the  incalculable  price, 
of  loss  and  suffering  should  these  few  men  insist  upon  ap 
proaching  and  concluding  the  matters  in  controversy  30 
between  them  merely  as  employers  and  employees,  rather 
than  as  patriotic  citizens  of  the  United  States  looking 
before  and  after  and  accepting  the  larger  responsibility 
which  the  public  would  put  upon  them. 


180  Woodrow  Wilson 

It  seemed  to  me,  in  considering  the  subject-matter  of 
the  controversy,  that  the  whole  spirit  of  the  time  and  the 
preponderant  evidence  of  recent  economic  experience 
spoke  for  the  eight-hour  day.  It  has  been  adjudged  by 
5  the  thought  and  experience  of  recent  years  a  thing  upon 
which  society  is  justified  in  insisting  as  in  the  interest  of 
health,  efficiency,  contentment,  and  a  general  increase  of 
economic  vigor.  The  whole  presumption  of  modern  ex 
perience  would,  it  seemed  to  me,  be  in  its  favor,  whether 

10  there  was  arbitration  or  not,  and  the  debatable  points  to 
settle  were  those  which  arose  out  of  the  acceptance  of  the 
eight-hour  day  rather  than  those  which  affected  its  estab 
lishment.  I,  therefore,  proposed  that  the  eight-hour  day 
be  adopted  by  the  railway  managements  and  put  into 

15  practice  for  the  present  as  a  substitute  for  the  existing 
ten-hour  basis  of  pay  and  service;  that  I  should  appoint, 
with  the  permission  of  the  Congress,  a  small  commission 
to  observe  the  results  of  the  change,  carefully  studying 
the  figures  of  the  altered  operating  costs,  not  only,  but 

20  also  the  conditions  of  labor  under  which  the  men  worked 
and  the  operation  of  their  existing  agreements  with  the 
railroads,  with  instructions  to  report  the  facts  as  they 
found  them  to  the  Congress  at  the  earliest  possible  day, 
but  without  recommendation;  and  that,  after  the  facts 

25  had  been  thus  disclosed,  an  adjustment  should  in  some 

orderly  manner  be  sought  of  all  the  matters  now  left 

unadjusted  between  the  railroad  managers  and  the  men. 

These  proposals  were  exactly  in  line,  it  is  interesting  to 

note,  with  the  position  taken  by  the  Supreme  Court  of 

30  the  United  States  when  appealed  to  to  protect  certain 
litigants  from  the  financial  losses  which  they  confidently 
expected  if  they  should  submit  to  the  regulation  of  their 
charges  and  of  their  methods  of  service  by  public  legisla 
tion.  The  Court  has  held  that  it  would  not  undertake  to 


The  Demands  of  Railway  Employees     181 

form  a  judgment  upon  forecasts,  but  could  base  its  action 
only  upon  actual  experience;  that  it  must  be  supplied  with 
facts,  not  with  calculations  and  opinions,  however  scien 
tifically  attempted.  To  undertake  to  arbitrate  the  ques 
tion  of  the  adoption  of  an  eight-hour  day  in  the  light  of  5 
results  merely  estimated  and  predicted  would  be  to  under 
take  an  enterprise  of  conjecture.  No  wise  man  could 
undertake  it,  or,  if  he  did  undertake  it,  could  feel  assured 
of  his  conclusions. 

I  unhesitatingly  offered  the  friendly  services  of  the  ad-  10 
ministration  to  the  railway  managers  to  see  to  it  that 
justice  was  done  the  railroads  in  the  outcome.     I  felt 
warranted  in  assuring  them  that  no  obstacle  of  law  would 
be  suffered  to  stand  in  the  way  of  their  increasing  their 
revenues  to  meet  the  expenses  resulting  from  the  change  15 
so  far  as  the  development  of  their  business  and  of  their 
administrative  efficiency  did  not  prove  adequate  to  meet 
them.    The  public  and  the  representatives  of  the  public, 
I  felt  justified  in  assuring  them,  were  disposed  to  nothing 
but  justice  in  such  cases  and  were  willing  to  serve  those  20 
who  served  them. 

The  representatives  of  the  brotherhoods  accepted  the 
plan;  but  the  representatives  of  the  railroads  declined  to 
accept  it.  In  the  face  of  what  I  cannot  but  regard  as  the 
practical  certainty  that  they  will  be  ultimately  obliged  to  25 
accept  the  eight-hour  day  by  the  concerted  action  of  or 
ganized  labor,  backed  by  the  favorable  judgment  of  so 
ciety,  the  representatives  of  the  railway  management 
have  felt  justified  in  declining  a  peaceful  settlement  which 
would  engage  all  the  forces  of  justice,  public  and  private,  30 
on  their  side  to  take  care  of  the  event.  They  fear  the 
hostile  influence  of  shippers,  who  would  be  opposed  to  an 
increase  of  freight  rates  (for  which,  however,  of  course, 
the  public  itself  would  pay) ;  they  apparently  feel  no  con- 


1 82  Wood  row  Wilson 

fidence  that  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  could 
withstand  the  objections  that  would  be  made.  They  do 
not  care  to  rely  upon  the  friendly  assurances  of  the  Con 
gress  or  the  President.  They  have  thought  it  best  that 
5  they  should  be  forced  to  yield,  if  they  must  yield,  not  by 
counsel,  but  by  the  suffering  of  the  country.  While  my 
conferences  with  them  were  in  progress,  and  when  to  all 
outward  appearance  those  conferences  had  come  to  a 
standstill,  the  representatives  of  the  brotherhoods  sud- 

10  denly  acted  and  set  the  strike  for  the  fourth  of  Sep 
tember. 

The  railway  managers  based  their  decision  to  reject  my 
counsel  in  this  matter  upon  their  conviction  that  they 
must  at  any  cost  to  themselves  or  to  the  country  stand 

15  firm  for  the  principle  of  arbitration  which  the  men  had 
rejected.  I  based  my  counsel  upon  the  indisputable  fact 
that  there  was  no  means  of  obtaining  arbitration.  The 
law  supplied  none;  earnest  efforts  at  mediation  had  failed 
to  influence  the  men  in  the  least.  To  stand  firm  for  the 

20  principle  of  arbitration  and  yet  not  get  arbitration  seemed 
to  me  futile,  and  something  more  than  futile,  because  it 
involved  incalculable  distress  to  the  country  and  conse 
quences  in  some  respects  worse  than  those  of  war,  and 
that  in  the  midst  of  peace. 

25  I  yield  to  no  man  in  firm  adherence,  alike  of  conviction 
and  of  purpose,  to  the  principle  of  arbitration  in  industrial 
disputes;  but  matters  have  come  to  a  sudden  crisis  in 
this  particular  dispute  and  the  country  had  been  caught 
unprovided  with  any  practicable  means  of  enforcing  that 

30  conviction  in  practice  (by  whose  fault  we  will  not  now 
stop  to  inquire).  A  situation  had  to  be  met  whose  ele 
ments  and  fixed  conditions  were  indisputable.  The  prac 
tical  and  patriotic  course  to  pursue,  as  it  seemed  to  me, 
was  to  secure  immediate  peace  by  conceding  the  one  thing 


The  Demands  of  Railway  Employees      183 

in  the  demands  of  the  men  which  society  itself  and  any 
arbitrators  who  represented  public  sentiment  were  most 
likely  to  approve,  and  immediately  lay  the  foundations 
for  securing  arbitration  with  regard  to  everything  else  in 
volved.  The  event  has  confirmed  that  judgment.  5 

I  was  seeking  to  compose  the  present  in  order  to  safe 
guard  the  future;  for  I  wished  an  atmosphere  of  peace  and 
friendly  cooperation  in  which  to  take  counsel  with  the 
representatives  of  the  nation  with  regard  to  the  best 
means  for  providing,  so  far  as  it  might  prove  possible  to  10 
provide,  against  the  recurrence  of  such  unhappy  situa 
tions  in  the  future, — the  best  and  most  practicable  means 
of  securing  calm  and  fair  arbitration  of  all  industrial  dis 
putes  in  the  days  to  come.  This  is  assuredly  the  best  way 
of  vindicating  a  principle,  namely,  having  failed  to  make  15 
certain  of  its  observance  in  the  present,  to  make  certain 
of  its  observance  in  the  future. 

But  I  could  only  propose.    I  could  not  govern  the  will 
of  others  who  took  an  entirely  different  view  of  the  cir 
cumstances  of  the  case,  who  even  refused  to  admit  the  20 
circumstances  to  be  what  they  have  turned  out  to  be. 

Having  failed  to  bring  the  parties  to  this  critical  con 
troversy  to  an  accommodation,  therefore,  I  turn  to  you, 
deeming  it  clearly  our  duty  as  public  servants  to  leave 
nothing  undone  that  we  can  do  to  safeguard  the  life  and  25 
interests  of  the  nation.  In  the  spirit  of  such  a  purpose, 
I  earnestly  recommend  the  following  legislation: 

First,  immediate  provision  for  the  enlargement  and  ad 
ministrative  reorganization  of  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission  along  the  lines  embodied  in  the  bill  recently  30 
passed  by  the  House  of  Representatives  and  now  awaiting 
action  by  the  Senate;  in  order  that  the  Commission  may 
be  enabled  to  deal  with  the  many  great  and  various  duties 
now  devolving  upon  it  with  a  promptness  and  thorough- 


184  Woodrow  Wilson 

ness  which  are  with  its  present  constitution  and  means  of 
action  practically  impossible. 

Second,  the  establishment  of  an  eight-hour  day  as  the 
legal  basis  alike  of  work  and  of  wages  in  the  employment  of 
5  all  railway  employees  who  are  actually  engaged  in  the 
work  of  operating  trains  in  interstate  transportation. 

Third,  the  authorization  of  the  appointment  by  the 
President  of  a  small  body  of  men  to  observe  the  actual 
results  in  experience  of  the  adoption  of  the  eight-hour  day 
10  in  railway  transportation  alike  for  the  men  and  for  the  rail 
roads;  its  effects  in  the  matter  of  operating  costs,  in  the 
application  of  the  existing  practices  and  agreements  to  the 
new  conditions,  and  in  all  other  practical  aspects,  with  the 
provision  that  the  investigators  shall  report  their  conclu- 
15  sions  to  the  Congress  at  the  earliest  possible  date,  but 
without  recommendation  as  to  legislative  action;  in  order 
that  the  public  may  learn  from  an  unprejudiced  source  just 
what  actual  developments  have  ensued. 

Fourth,  explicit  approval  by  the  Congress  of  the  con- 
so  sideration  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  of  an 
increase  of  freight  rates  to  meet  such  additional  expendi 
tures  by  the  railroads  as  may  have  been  rendered  necessary 
by  the  adoption  of  the  eight-hour  day  and  which  have  not 
been  offset  by  administrative  readjustments  and  econ- 
25  omies,  should  the  facts  disclosed  justify  the  increase. 

Fifth,  an  amendment  of  the  existing  federal  statute 
which  provides  for  the  mediation,  conciliation,  and  arbi 
tration  of  such  controversies  as  the  present  by  adding  to 
it  a  provision  that  in  case  the  methods  of  accommodation 
30  now  provided  for  should  fail,  a  full  public  investigation  of 
the  merits  of  every  such  dispute  shall  be  instituted  and 
completed  before  a  strike  or  lockout  may  lawfully  be  at 
tempted. 
And,  sixth,  the  lodgment  in  the  hands  of  the  Executive 


The  Demands  of  Railway  Employees      185 

of  the  power,  in  case  of  military  necessity,  to  take  control 
of  such  portions  and  such  rolling  stock  of  the  railways  of 
the  country  as  may  be  required  for  military  use  and  to 
operate  them  for  military  purposes,  with  authority  to 
draft  into  the  military  service  of  the  United  States  such  5 
train  crews  and  administrative  officials  as  the  circum 
stances  require  for  their  safe  and  efficient  use. 

This  last  suggestion  I  make  because  we  cannot  in  any 
circumstances  suffer  the  nation  to  be  hampered  in  the 
essential  matter  of  national  defense.  At  the  present  10 
moment  circumstances  render  this  duty  particularly 
obvious.  Almost  the  entire  military  force  of  the  nation  is 
stationed  upon  the  Mexican  border  to  guard  our  territory 
against  hostile  raids.  It  must  be  supplied,  and  steadily 
supplied,  with  whatever  it  needs  for  its  maintenance  and  15 
efficiency.  If  it  should  be  necessary  for  purposes  of  na 
tional  defense  to  transfer  any  portion  of  it  upon  short 
notice  to  some  other  part  of  the  country,  for  reasons  now 
unforeseen,  ample  means  of  transportation  must  be 
available,  and  available  without  delay.  The  power  con-  20 
ferred  in  this  matter  should  be  carefully  and  explicitly 
limited  to  cases  of  military  necessity,  but  in  all  such  cases 
it  should  be  clear  and  ample. 

There  is  one  other  thing  we  should  do  if  we  are  true 
champions  of  arbitration.  We  should  make  all  arbitral  25 
awrards  judgments  by  record  of  a  court  of  law  in  order  that 
their  interpretation  and  enforcement  may  lie,  not  with  one 
of  the  parties  to  the  arbitration,  but  with  an  impartial  and 
authoritative  tribunal. 

These  things  I  urge  upon  you,  not  in  haste  or  merely  as  a  30 
means  of  meeting  a  present  emergency,  but  as  permanent 
and  necessary  additions  to  the  law  of  the  land,  suggested, 
indeed,  by  circumstances  we  had  hoped  never  to  see,  but 
imperative  as  well  as  just,  if  such  emergencies  are  to  be 


1 86  Woodrow  Wilson 

prevented  in  the  future.  I  feel  that  no  extended  argument 
is  needed  to  commend  them  to  your  favorable  considera 
tion.  They  demonstrate  themselves.  The  time  and  the 
occasion  only  give  emphasis  to  their  importance.  We  need 
5  them  now  and  we  shall  continue  to  need  them. 


SPEECH  OF  ACCEPTANCE 

[On  being  offered  the  nomination  for  President  by  the  Democratic 
Party.  Delivered  at  Shadow  Lawn,  Sea  Girt,  N.  J.,  Saturday,  Sep 
tember  2,  1916.] 

SENATOR  JAMES,  GENTLEMEN  or  THE  NOTIFICATION  COM 
MITTEE,  FELLOW-CITIZENS: 

I  cannot  accept  the  leadership  and  responsibility  which 
the  National  Democratic  Convention  has  again,  in  such 
generous  fashion,  asked  me  to  accept  without  first  express-  5 
ing  my  profound  gratitude  to  the  party  for  the  trust  it 
reposes  in  me  after  four  years  of  fiery  trial  in  the  midst  of 
affairs  of  unprecedented  difficulty,  and  the  keen  sense  of 
added  responsibility  with  which  this  honor  fills  (I  had  al 
most  said  burdens)  me  as  I  think  of  the  great  issues  of  10 
national  life  and  policy  involved  in  the  present  and  imme 
diate  future  conduct  of  our  Government.  I  shall  seek,  as 
I  have  always  sought,  to  justify  the  extraordinary  con 
fidence  thus  reposed  in  me  by  striving  to  purge  my  heart 
and  purpose  of  every  personal  and  of  every  misleading  15 
party  motive  and  devoting  every  energy  I  have  to  the 
service  of  the  nation  as  a  whole,  praying  that  I  may 
continue  to  have  the  counsel  and  support  of  all  forward- 
looking  men  at  every  turn  of  the  difficult  business. 

For  I  do  not  doubt  that  the  people  of  the  United  States  20 
will  wish  the  Democratic  Party  to  continue  in  control  of 
the  Government.    They  are  not  in  the  habit  of  rejecting 
those  who  have  actually  served  them  for  those  who  are 
making   doubtful   and   conjectural   promises   of   service. 
Least  of  all  are  they  likely  to  substitute  those  who  promised  25 
to  render  them  particular  services  and  proved  false  to  that 

187 


1 88  Woodrow  Wilson 

promise  for  those  who  have  actually  rendered  those  very 
services. 

Boasting  is  always  an  empty  business,  which  pleases  no 
body  but  the  boaster,  and  I  have  no  disposition  to  boast  of 
5  what  the  Democratic  Party  has  accomplished.  It  has 
merely  done  its  duty.  It  has  merely  fulfilled  its  explicit 
promises.  But  there  can  be  no  violation  of  good  taste  in 
calling  attention  to  the  manner  in  which  those  promises 
have  been  carried  out  or  in  adverting  to  the  interesting 

10  fact  that  many  of  the  things  accomplished  were  what  the 
opposition  party  had  again  and  again  promised  to  do  but 
had  left  undone.  Indeed  that  is  manifestly  part  of  the 
business  of  this  year  of  reckoning  and  assessment.  There 
is  no  means  of  judging  the  future  except  by  assessing  the 

15  past.     Constructive  action  must  be  weighed  against  de 
structive  comment  and  reaction.    The  Democrats  either 
have  or  have  not  understood  the  varied  interests  of  the 
country.    The  test  is  contained  in  the  record. 
What  is  that  record?    What  were  the  Democrats  called 

20  into  power  to  do?  What  things  had  long  waited  to  be 
done,  and  how  did  the  Democrats  do  them?  It  is  a  record 
of  extraordinary  length  and  variety,  rich  in  elements  of 
many  kinds,  but  consistent  in  principle  throughout  and 
susceptible  of  brief  recital. 

25  The  Republican  Party  was  put  out  of  power  because  of 
failure,  practical  failure  and  moral  failure;  because  it  had 
served  special  interests  and  not  the  country  at  large;  be 
cause,  under  the  leadership  of  its  preferred  and  established 
guides,  of  those  who  still  make  its  choices,  it  had  lost  touch 

30  with  the  thoughts  and  the  needs  of  the  nation  and  was 
living  in  a  past  age  and  under  a  fixed  illusion,  the  illusion  of 
greatness.  It  had  framed  tariff  laws  based  upon  a  fear  of 
foreign  trade,  a  fundamental  doubt  as  to  American  skill, 
enterprise,  and  capacity,  and  a  very  tender  regard  for  the 


Speech  of  Acceptance  189 

profitable  privileges  of  those  who  had  gained  control  of 
domestic  markets  and  domestic  credits;  and  yet  had 
enacted  anti-trust  laws  which  hampered  the  very  things 
they  meant  to  foster,  which  were  stiff  and  inelastic,  and  in 
part  unintelligible.  It  had  permitted  the  country  through-  5 
out  the  long  period  of  its  control  to  stagger  from  one 
financial  crisis  to  another  under  the  operation  of  a  national 
banking  law  of  its  own  framing  which  made  stringency  and 
panic  certain  and  the  control  of  the  larger  business  opera 
tions  of  the  country  by  the  bankers  of  a  few  reserve  10 
centers  inevitable;  had  made  as  if  it  meant  to  reform  the 
law  but  had  faint-heartedly  failed  in  the  attempt,  because 
it  could  not  bring  itself  to  do  the  one  thing  necessary  to 
make  the  reform  genuine  and  effectual,  namely,  break  up 
the  control  of  small  groups  of  bankers.  It  had  been  15 
oblivious,  or  indifferent,  to  the  fact  that  the  farmers,  upon 
whom  the  country  depends  for  its  food  and  in  the  last 
analysis  for  its  prosperity,  were  without  standing  in  the 
matter  of  commercial  credit,  without  the  protection  of 
standards  in  their  market  transactions,  and  without  sys-  20 
tematic  knowledge  of  the  markets  themselves;  that  the 
laborers  of  the  country,  the  great  army  of  men  who  man 
the  industries  it  was  professing  to  father  and  promote, 
carried  their  labor  as  a  mere  commodity  to  market,  were 
subject  to  restraint  by  novel  and  drastic  process  in  the  25 
courts,  were  without  assurance  of  compensation  for  in 
dustrial  accidents,  without  federal  assistance  in  accom 
modating  labor  disputes,  and  without  national  aid  or 
advice  in  finding  the  places  and  the  industries  in  which 
their  labor  was  most  needed.  The  country  had  no  national  30 
system  of  road  construction  and  development.  Little 
intelligent  attention  was  paid  to  the  army,  and  not  enough 
to  the  navy.  The  other  republics  of  America  distrusted 
us,  because  they  found  that  we  thought  first  of  the  profits 


190  Woodrow  Wilson 

of  American  investors  and  only  as  an  afterthought  of  im 
partial  justice  and  helpful  friendship.  Its  policy  was 
provincial  in  all  things;  its  purposes  were  out  of  harmony 
with  the  temper  and  purpose  of  the  people  and  the  timely 
5  development  of  the  nation's  interests. 

So  things  stood  when  the  Democratic  Party  came  into 
power.  How  do  they  stand  now?  Alike  in  the  domestic 
field  and  in  the  wide  field  of  the  commerce  of  the  world, 
American  business  and  life  and  industry  have  been  set 

10  free  to  move  as  they  never  moved  before. 

The  tariff  has  been  revised,  not  on  the  principle  of  re 
pelling  foreign  trade,  but  upon  the  principle  of  encour 
aging  it,  upon  something  like  a  footing  of  equality  with 
our  own  in  respect  of  the  terms  of  competition,  and  a 

15  Tariff  Board  has  been  created  whose  function  it  will  be 
to  keep  the  relations  of  American  with  foreign  business 
and  industry  under  constant  observation,  for  the  guidance 
alike  of  our  business  men  and  of  our  Congress.  Ameri 
can  energies  are  now  directed  towards  the  markets  of 

20  the  world. 

The  laws  against  trusts  have  been  clarified  by  definition, 
with  a  view  to  making  it  plain  that  they  were  not  directed 
against  big  business  but  only  against  unfair  business  and 
the  pretense  of  competition  where  there  was  none;  and  a 

25  Trade  Commission  has  been  created  with  powers  of  guid 
ance  and  accommodation  which  have  relieved  business 
men  of  unfounded  fears  and  set  them  upon  the  road  of 
hopeful  and  confident  enterprise. 
By  the  Federal  Reserve  Act  the  supply  of  currency  at 

30  the  disposal  of  active  business  has  been  rendered  elastic, 
taking  its  volume,  not  from  a  fixed  body  of  investment 
securities,  but  from  the  liquid  assets  of  daily  trade;  and 
these  assets  are  assessed  and  accepted,  not  by  distant 
groups  of  bankers  in  control  of  unavailable  reserves,  but 


Speech  of  Acceptance  191 

by  bankers  at  the  many  centers  of  local  exchange  who  are 
in  touch  with  local  conditions  everywhere. 

Effective  measures  have  been  taken  for  the  re-creation  of 
an  American  merchant  marine  and  the  revival  of  the 
American  carrying  trade  indispensable  to  our  emancipa-  5 
tion  from  the  control  which  foreigners  have  so  long  exer 
cised  over  the  opportunities,  the  routes,  and  the  methods 
of  our  commerce  with  other  countries. 

The  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  is  about  to  be  reor 
ganized  to  enable  it  to  perform  its  great  and  important  func-  10 
tions  more  promptly  and  more  efficiently.  We  have  created, 
extended  and  improved  the  service  of  the  parcels  post. 

So  much  we  have  done  for  business.  What  other  party 
has  understood  the  task  so  well  or  executed  it  so  intelli 
gently  and  energetically?  What  other  party  has  at-  15 
tempted  it  at  all?  The  Republican  leaders,  apparently, 
know  of  no  means  of  assisting  business  but  "protection." 
How  to  stimulate  it  and  put  it  upon  a  new  footing  of 
energy  and  enterprise  they  have  not  suggested. 

For  the  farmers  of  the  country  we  have  virtually  created  20 
commercial  credit,  by  means  of  the  Federal  Reserve  Act 
and  the  Rural  Credits  Act.    They  now  have  the  standing 
of  other  business  men  in  the  money  market.    We  have  suc 
cessfully  regulated  speculation  in  " futures"  and  established 
standards  in  the  marketing  of  grains.    By  an  intelligent  25 
Warehouse  Act  we  have  assisted  to  make  the  standard 
crops  available  as  never  before  both  for  systematic  market 
ing  and  as  a  security  for  loans  from  the  banks.    We  have 
greatly  added  to  the  work  of  neighborhood  demonstration 
on  the  farm  itself  of  improved  methods  of  cultivation,  and,  30 
through  the  intelligent  extension  of  the  functions  of  the 
Department  of  Agriculture,  have  made  it  possible  for  the 
farmer  to  learn  systematically  where  his  best  markets  are 
and  how  to  get  at  them. 


192  Woodrow  Wilson 

The  workingmen  of  America  have  been  given  a  veritable 
emancipation,  by  the  legal  recognition  of  a  man's  labor 
as  part  of  his  life,  and  not  a  mere  marketable  commodity; 
by  exempting  labor  organizations  from  processes  of  the 
5  courts  which  treated  their  members  like  fractional  parts 
of  mobs  and  not  like  accessible  and  responsible  individuals; 
by  releasing  our  seamen  from  involuntary  servitude;  by 
making  adequate  provision  for  compensation  for  indus 
trial  accidents;  by  providing  suitable  machinery  for  media- 

10  tion  and  conciliation  in  industrial  disputes;  and  by  putting 
the  Federal  Department  of  Labor  at  the  disposal  of  the 
workingman  when  in  search  of  work. 

We  have  effected  the  emancipation  of  the  children  of 
the  country  by  releasing  them  from  hurtful  labor.     We 

15  have  instituted  a  system  of  national  aid  in  the  building 
of  highroads  such  as  the  country  has  been  feeling  after 
for  a  century.  We  have  sought  to  equalize  taxation  by 
means  of  an  equitable  income  tax.  We  have  taken  the 
steps  that  ought  to  have  been  taken  at  the  outset  to  open 

20  up  the  resources  of  Alaska.  We  have  provided  for  national 
defense  upon  a  scale  never  before  seriously  proposed  upon 
the  responsibility  of  an  entire  political  party.  We  have 
driven  the  tariff  lobby  from  cover  and  obliged  it  to  sub 
stitute  solid  argument  for  private  influence. 

25      This  extraordinary  recital  must  sound  like  a  platform, 

a  list  of  sanguine  promises;  but  it  is  not.    It  is  a  record  of 

promises  made  four  years  ago  and  now  actually  redeemed 

in  constructive  legislation. 

These  things  must  profoundly  disturb  the  thoughts  and 

30  confound  the  plans  of  those  who  have  made  themselves 
believe  that  the  Democratic  Party  neither  understood  nor 
was  ready  to  assist  the  business  of  the  country  in  the 
great  enterprises  which  it  is  its  evident  and  inevitable 
destiny  to  undertake  and  carry  through.  The  breaking 


Speech  of  Acceptance  193 

up  of  the  lobby  must  especially  disconcert  them:  for  it 
was  through  the  lobby  that  they  sought  and  were  sure 
they  had  found  the  heart  of  things.  The  game  of  privilege 
can  be  played  successfully  by  no  other  means. 

This  record  must  equally  astonish  those  who  feared  5 
that  the  Democratic  Party  had  not  opened  its  heart  to 
comprehend  the  demands  of  social  justice.  We  have  in 
four  years  come  very  near  to  carrying  out  the  platform  of 
the  Progressive  Party  as  well  as  our  own;  for  we  also  are 
progressives.  10 

There  is  one  circumstance  connected  with  this  pro 
gram  which  ought  to  be  very  plainly  stated.  It  was  re 
sisted  at  every  step  by  the  interests  which  the  Republican 
Party  had  catered  to  and  fostered  at  the  expense  of  the 
country,  and  these  same  interests  are  now  earnestly  pray-  15 
ing  for  a  reaction  which  will  save  their  privileges, — for 
the  restoration  of  their  sworn  friends  to  power  before 
it  is  too  late  to  recover  what  they  have  lost.  They  fought 
with  particular  desperation  and  infinite  resourcefulness 
the  reform  of  the  banking  and  currency  system,  knowing  20 
that  to  be  the  citadel  of  their  control;  and  most  anxiously 
are  they  hoping  and  planning  for  the  amendment  of  the 
Federal  Reserve  Act  by  the  concentration  of  control  in 
a  single  bank  which  the  old  familiar  group  of  bankers  can 
keep  under  their  eye  and  direction.  But  while  the  "big  25 
men"  who  used  to  write  the  tariffs  and  command  the 
assistance  of  the  Treasury  have  been  hostile, — all  but  a 
few  with  vision, — the  average  business  man  knows  that 
he  has  been  delivered,  and  that  the  fear  that  was  once 
every  day  in  his  heart,  that  the  men  who  controlled  credit  30 
and  directed  enterprise  from  the  committee  rooms  of 
Congress  would  crush  him,  is  there  no  more,  and  will  not 
return, — unless  the  party  that  consulted  only  the  "big 
men"  should  return  to  power, — the  party  of  masterly 


194  Woodrow  Wilson 

inactivity  and  cunning  resourcefulness  in  standing  pat  to 
resist  change. 

The  Republican  Party  is  just  the  party  that  cannot 
meet  the  new  conditions  of  a  new  age.  It  does  not  know 
5  the  way  and  it  does  not  wish  new  conditions.  It  tried  to 
break  away  from  the  old  leaders  and  could  not.  They 
still  select  its  candidates  and  dictate  its  policy,  still  resist 
change,  still  hanker  after  the  old  conditions,  still  know 
no  methods  of  encouraging  business  but  the  old  methods. 

10  When  it  changes  its  leaders  and  its  purposes  and  brings 
its  ideas  up  to  date  it  will  have  the  right  to  ask  the  Amer 
ican  people  to  give  it  power  again;  but  not  until  then. 
A  new  age,  an  age  of  revolutionary  change,  needs  new 
purposes  and  new  ideas. 

15  In  foreign  affairs  we  have  been  guided  by  principles 
clearly  conceived  and  consistently  lived  up  to.  Perhaps 
they  have  not  been  fully  comprehended  because  they 
have  hitherto  governed  international  affairs  only  in  theory, 
not  in  practice.  They  are  simple,  obvious,  easily  stated, 

20  and  fundamental  to  American  ideals. 

We  have  been  neutral  not  only  because  it  was  the  fixed 
and  traditional  policy  of  the  United  States  to  stand  aloof 
from  the  politics  of  Europe  and  because  we  had  had  no 
part  either  of  action  or  of  policy  in  the  influences  which 

25  brought  on  the  present  war,  but  also  because  it  was  mani 
festly  our  duty  to  prevent,  if  it  were  possible,  the  indef 
inite  extension  of  the  fires  of  hate  and  desolation  kindled 
by  that  terrible  conflict  and  seek-  to  serve  mankind  by 
reserving  our  strength  and  our  resources  for  the  anxious 

30  and  difficult  days  of  restoration  and  healing  which  must 
follow,  when  peace  will  have  to  build  its  house  anew. 

The  rights  of  our  own  citizens  of  course  became  involved: 
that  was  inevitable.  Where  they  did  this  was  our  guiding 
principle:  that  property  rights  can  be  vindicated  by  claims 


Speech  of  Acceptance  195 

for  damages  and  no  modern  nation  can  decline  to  arbi 
trate  such  claims;  but  the  fundamental  rights  of  humanity 
cannot  be.  The  loss  of  life  is  irreparable.  Neither  can 
direct  violations  of  a  nation's  sovereignty  await  vindica 
tion  in  suits  for  damages.  The  nation  that  violates  these  5 
essential  rights  must  expect  to  be  checked  and  called  to 
account  by  direct  challenge  and  resistance.  It  at  once 
makes  the  quarrel  in  part  our  own.  These  are  plain  prin 
ciples  and  we  have  never  lost  sight  of  them  or  departed 
from  them,  whatever  the  stress  or  the  perplexity  of  cir-  10 
cumstance  or  the  provocation  to  hasty  resentment.  The 
record  is  clear  and  consistent  throughout  and  stands  dis 
tinct  and  definite  for  anyone  to  judge  who  wishes  to  know 
the  truth  about  it. 

The  seas  were  not  broad  enough  to  keep  the  infection  15 
of  the  conflict  out  of  our  own  politics.  The  passions  and 
intrigues  of  certain  active  groups  and  combinations  of  men 
amongst  us  who  were  born  under  foreign  flags  injected  the 
poison  of  disloyalty  into  our  own  most  critical  affairs,  laid 
violent  hands  upon  many  of  our  industries,  and  subjected  20 
us  to  the  shame  of  divisions  of  sentiment  and  purpose  in 
which  America  was  contemned  and  forgotten.  It  is  part  of 
the  business  of  this  year  of  reckoning  and  settlement  to 
speak  plainly  and  act  with  unmistakable  purpose  in  re 
buke  of  these  things,  in  order  that  they  may  be  forever  25 
hereafter  impossible.  I  am  the  candidate  of  a  party,  but 
I  am  above  all  things  else  an  American  citizen.  I  neither 
seek  the  favor  nor  fear  the  displeasure  of  that  small  alien 
element  amongst  us  which  puts  loyalty  to  any  foreign 
power  before  loyalty  to  the  United  States.  30 

While  Europe  was  at  war  our  own  continent,  one  of 
our  own  neighbors,  was  shaken  by  revolution.  In  that 
matter,  too,  principle  was  plain  and  it  was  imperative 
that  we  should  live  up  to  it  if  we  were  to  deserve  the 


196  Wood  row  Wilson 

trust  of  any  real  partisan  of  the  right  as  free  men  see  it. 
We  have  professed  to  believe,  and  we  do  believe,  that  the 
people  of  small  and  weak  states  have  the  right  to  expect 
to  be  dealt  with  exactly  as  the  people  of  big  and  powerful 
5  states  would  be.  We  have  acted  upon  that  principle  in 
dealing  with  the  people  of  Mexico. 

Our  recent  pursuit  of  bandits  into  Mexican  territory 
was  no  violation  of  that  principle.  We  ventured  to  enter 
Mexican  territory  only  because  there  were  no  military 

10  forces  in  Mexico  that  could  protect  our  border  from  hostile 
attack  and  our  own  people  from  violence,  and  we  have 
committed  there  no  single  act  of  hostility  or  interference 
even  with  the  sovereign  authority  of  the  Republic  of 
Mexico  herself.  It  was  a  plain  case  of  the  violation  of  our 

15  own  sovereignty  which  could  not  wait  to  be  vindicated 
by  damages  and  for  which  there  was  no  other  remedy. 
The  authorities  of  Mexico  were  powerless  to  prevent  it. 

Many  serious  wrongs  against  the  property,  many  ir 
reparable  wrongs  against  the  persons  of  Americans  have 

20  been  committed  within  the  territory  'of  Mexico  herself 
during  this  confused  revolution,  wrongs  which  could  not 
be  effectually  checked  so  long  as  there  was  no  constituted 
power  in  Mexico  which  was  in  a  position  to  check  them. 
We  could  not  act  directly  in  that  matter  ourselves  with- 

25  out  denying  Mexicans  the  right  to  any  revolution  at  all 
which  disturbed  us  and  making  the  emancipation  of  her 
own  people  await  our  own  interest  and  convenience. 

For  it  is  their  emancipation  that  they  are  seeking, — 
blindly,  it  may  be,  and  as  yet  ineffectually,  but  with  pro- 

30  found  and  passionate  purpose  and  within  their  unques 
tionable  right,  apply  what  true  American  principle  you 
will, — any  principle  that  an  American  would  publicly 
avow.  The  people  of  Mexico  have  not  been  suffered  to 
own  their  own  country  or  direct  their  own  institutions. 


Speech  of  Acceptance  197 

Outsiders,  men  out  of  other  nations  and  with  interests  too 
often  alien  to  their  own,  have  dictated  what  their  privi 
leges  and  opportunities  should  be  and  who  should  control 
their  land,  their  lives,  and  their  resources, — some  of  them 
Americans,  pressing  for  things  they  could  never  have  got  5 
in  their  own  country.  The  Mexican  people  are  entitled 
to  attempt  their  liberty  from  such  influences;  and  so  long 
as  I  have  anything  to  do  with  the  action  of  our  great 
Government  I  shall  do  everything  in  my  power  to  prevent 
anyone  standing  in  their  way.  I  know  that  this  is  hard  10 
for  some  persons  to  understand;  but  it  is  not  hard  for  the 
plain  people  of  the  United  States  to  understand.  It  is 
hard  doctrine  only  for  those  who  wish  to  get  something 
for  themselves  out  of  Mexico.  There  are  men,  and  noble 
women,  too,  not  a  few,  of  our  own  people,  thank  God!  15 
whose  fortunes  are  invested  in  great  properties  in  Mexico 
who  yet  see  the  case  with  true  vision  and  assess  its  issues 
with  true  American  feeling.  The  rest  can  be  left  for  the 
present  out  of  the  reckoning  until  this  enslaved  people 
has  had  its  day  of  struggle  towards  the  light.  I  have  2o 
heard  no  one  who  was  free  from  such  influences  propose 
interference  by  the  United  States  with  the  internal  affairs 
of  Mexico.  Certainly  no  friend  of  the  Mexican  people 
has  proposed  it. 

The  people  of  the  United  States  are  capable  of  great  25 
sympathies  and  a  noble  pity  in  dealing  with  problems  of 
this  kind.    As  their  spokesman  and  representative,  I  have 
tried  to  act  in  the  spirit  they  wrould  wish  me  show.    The 
people  of  Mexico  are  striving  for  the  rights  that  are  funda 
mental  to  life  and  happiness, — 15,000,000  oppressed  men,  30 
overburdened    women,    and   pitiful   children    in    virtual 
bondage  in  their  own  home  of  fertile  lands  and  inexhausti 
ble  treasure!    Some  of  the  leaders  of  the  revolution  may 
often  have  been  mistaken  and  violent  and  selfish,  but  the 


198  Woodrow  Wilson 

revolution  itself  was  inevitable  and  is  right.  The  un 
speakable  Huerta  betrayed  the  very  comrades  he  served, 
traitorously  overthrew  the  government  of  which  he  was  a 
trusted  part,  impudently  spoke  for  the  very  forces  that 

5  had  driven  his  people  to  the  rebellion  with  which  he  had 
pretended  to  sympathize.  The  men  who  overcame  him 
and  drove  him  out  represent  at  least  the  fierce  passion  of 
reconstruction  which  lies  at  the  very  heart  of  liberty;  and 
so  long  as  they  represent,  however  imperfectly,  such  a 

10  struggle  for  deliverance,  I  am  ready  to  serve  their  ends 
when  I  can.  So  long  as  the  power  of  recognition  rests 
with  me  the  Government  of  the  United  States  will  refuse 
to  extend  the  hand  of  welcome  to  any  one  who  obtains 
power  in  a  sister  republic  by  treachery  and  violence.  No 

15  permanency  can  be  given  the  affairs  of  any  republic  by  a 
title  based  upon  intrigue  and  assassination.  I  declared 
that  to  be  the  policy  of  this  Administration  within  three 
weeks  after  I  assumed  the  presidency.  I  here  again  vow  it. 
I  am  more  interested  in  the  fortunes  of  oppressed  men  and 

20  pitiful  women  and  children  than  in  any  property  rights 
whatever.  Mistakes  I  have  no  doubt  made  in  this  per 
plexing  business,  but  not  in  purpose  or  object. 

More  is  involved  than  the  immediate  destinies  of  Mexico 
and  the  relations  of  the  United  States  with  a  distressed  and 

25  distracted  people.  All  America  looks  on.  Test  is  now  be 
ing  made  of  us  whether  we  be  sincere  lovers  of  popular 
liberty  or  not  and  are  indeed  to  be  trusted  to  respect  na 
tional  sovereignty  among  our  weaker  neighbors.  We  have 
undertaken  these  many  years  to  play  big  brother  to  the 

30  republics  of  this  hemisphere.  This  is  the  day  of  our  test 
whether  we  mean,  or  have  ever  meant,  to  play  that  part 
for  our  own  benefit  wholly  or  also  for  theirs.  Upon  the 
outcome  of  that  test  (its  outcome  in  their  minds,  not  in 
ours)  depends  every  relationship  of  the  United  States  with 


Speech  of  Acceptance  199 

Latin  America,  whether  in  politics  or  in  commerce  and 
enterprise.  These  are  great  issues  and  lie  at  the  heart  of 
the  gravest  tasks  of  the  future,  tasks  both  economic  and 
political  and  very  intimately  inwrought  with  many  of  the 
most  vital  of  the  new  issues  of  the  politics  of  the  world.  5 
The  republics  of  America  have  in  the  last  three  years 
been  drawing  together  in  a  new  spirit  of  accommodation, 
mutual  understanding,  and  cordial  cooperation.  Much  of 
the  politics  of  the  world  in  the  years  to  come  will  depend 
upon  their  relationships  with  one  another.  It  is  a  barren  10 
and  provincial  statesmanship  that  loses  sight  of  such 
things ! 

The  future,  the  immediate  future,  will  bring  us  squarely 
face  to  face  with  many  great  and  exacting  problems  which 
will  search  us  through  and  through  whether  we  be  able  and  15 
ready  to  play  the  part  in  the  world  that  we  mean  to  play. 
It  will  not  bring  us  into  their  presence  slowly,  gently,  with 
ceremonious  introduction,  but  suddenly  and  at  once,  the 
moment  the  war  in  Europe  is  over.     They  will  be  new 
problems,  most  of -them;  many  will  be  old  problems  in  a  20 
new  setting  and  with  new  elements  which  we  have  never 
dealt  with  or  reckoned  the  force  and  meaning  of  before. 
They  will  require  for  their  solution  new  thinking,  fresh 
courage  and  resourcefulness,  and  in  some  matters  radical 
reconsiderations  of  policy.    We  must  be  ready  to  mobilize  25 
our  resources  alike  of  brains  and  of  materials. 

It  is  not  a  future  to  be  afraid  of.    It  is,  rather,  a  future 
to  stimulate  and  excite  us  to  the  display  of  the  best  powers 
that  are  in  us.    We  may  enter  it  with  confidence  when  we 
are  sure  that  we  understand  it, — and  we  have  provided  30 
ourselves  already  with  the  means  of  understanding  it. 

Look  first  at  what  it  will  be  necessary  that  the  nations 
of  the  world  should  do  to  make  the  days  to  come  tolerable 
and  fit  to  live  and  work  in;  and  then  look  at  our  part  in 


2OO  Wood  row  Wilson 

what  is  to  follow  and  our  own  duty  of  preparation.    For  we 
must  be  prepared  both  in  resources  and  in  policy. 

There  must  be  a  just  and  settled  peace,  and  we  here  in 
America  must  contribute  the  full  force  of  our  enthusiasm 

5  and  of  our  authority  as  a  nation  to  the  organization  of  that 
peace  upon  world-wide  foundations  that  cannot  easily  be 
shaken.  No  nation  should  be  forced  to  take  sides  in  any 
quarrel  in  which  its  own  honor  and  integrity  and  the 
fortunes  of  its  own  people  are  not  involved;  but  no  nation 

10  can  any  longer  remain  neutral  as  against  any  wilful  dis 
turbance  of  the  peace  of  the  world.  The  effects  of  war  can 
no  longer  be  confined  to  the  areas  of  battle.  No  nation 
stands  wholly  apart  in  interest  when  the  life  and  interests 
of  all  nations  are  thrown  into  confusion  and  peril.  If 

15  hopeful  and  generous  enterprise  is  to  be  renewed,  if  the 
healing  and  helpful  arts  of  life  are  indeed  to  be  revived 
when  peace  comes  again,  a  new  atmosphere  of  justice  and 
friendship  must  be  generated  by  means  the  world  has 
never  tried  before.  The  nations  of  the  world  must  unite  in 

20  joint  guarantees  that  whatever  is  done  to  disturb  the 
whole  world's  life  must  first  be  tested  in  the  court  of  the 
whole  world's  opinion  before  it  is  attempted. 

These  are  the  new  foundations  the  world  must  build  for 
itself,  and  we  must  play  our  part  in  the  reconstruction, 

25  generously  and  without  too  much  thought  of  our  separate 
interests.  We  must  make  ourselves  ready  to  play  it  in 
telligently,  vigorously,  and  well. 

One  of  the  contributions  we  must  make  to  the  world's 
peace  is  this:  We  must  see  to  it  that  the  people  in  our 

30  insular  possessions  are  treated  in  their  own  lands  as  we 

would  treat  them  here,  and  make  the  rule  of  the  United 

States  mean  the  same  thing  everywhere, — the  same  justice, 

the  same  consideration  for  the  essential  rights  of  men. 

Besides  contributing  our  ungrudging  moral  and  prac- 


Speech  of  Acceptance  201 

tical  support  to  the  establishment  of  peace  throughout 
the  world  we  must  actively  and  intelligently  prepare  our 
selves  to  do  our  full  service  in  the  trade  and  industry  which 
are  to  sustain  and  develop  the  life  of  the  nations  in  the 
days  to  come.  5 

We  have  already  been  provident  in  this  great  matter  and 
supplied  ourselves  with  the  instrumentalities  of  prompt 
adjustment.  We  have  created,  in  the  Federal  Trade  Com 
mission,  a  means  of  inquiry  and  of  accommodation  in  the 
field  of  commerce  which  ought  both  to  coordinate  the  10 
enterprises  of  our  traders  and  manufacturers  and  to  re 
move  the  barriers  of  misunderstanding  and  of  a  too 
technical  interpretation  of  the  law.  In  the  new  Tariff 
Commission  we  have  added  another  instrumentality  of 
observation  and  adjustment  which  promises  to  be  imme-  15 
diately  serviceable.  The  Trade  Commission  substitutes 
counsel  and  accommodation  for  the  harsher  processes  of 
legal  restraint,  and  the  Tariff  Commission  ought  to  sub 
stitute  facts  for  prejudices  and  theories.  Our  exporters 
have  for  some  time  had  the  advantage  of  working  in  the  20 
new  light  thrown  upon  foreign  markets  and  opportunities 
of  trade  by  the  intelligent  inquiries  and  activities  of  the 
Bureau  of  Foreign  and  Domestic  Commerce  which  the 
Democratic  Congress  so  wisely  created 'in  1912.  The 
Tariff  Commission  completes  the  machinery  by  which  we  25 
shall  be  enabled  to  open  up  our  legislative  policy  to  the 
facts  as  they  develop. 

We  can  no  longer  indulge  our  traditional  provincialism. 
We  are  to  play  a  leading  part  in  the  world  drama  whether 
we  wish  it  or  not.    We  shall  lend,  not  borrow ;  act  for  our-  30 
selves,  not  imitate  or  follow;  organize  and  initiate,  not 
peep  about  merely  to  see  where  we  may  get  in. 

We  have  already  formulated  and  agreed  upon  a  policy 
of  law  which  will  explicitly  remove  the  ban  now  supposed '- 


2O2  Woodrow  Wilson 

to  rest  upon  cooperation  amongst  our  exporters  in  seeking 
and  securing  their  proper  place  in  the  markets  of  the 
world.  The  field  will  be  free,  the  instrumentalities  at 
hand.  It  will  only  remain  for  the  masters  of  enterprise 
5  amongst  us  to  act  in  energetic  concert,  and  for  the  Govern 
ment  of  the  United  States  to  insist  upon  the  maintenance 
throughout  the  world  of  those  conditions  of  fairness  and  of 
even-handed  justice  in  the  commercial  dealings  of  the 
nations  with  one  another  upon  which,  after  all,  in  the  last 

10  analysis,  the  peace  and  ordered  life  of  the  world  must 
ultimately  depend. 

At  home  also  we  must  see  to  it  that  the  men  who  plan 
and  develop  and  direct  our  business  enterprises  shall  enjoy 
definite  and  settled  conditions  of  law,  a  policy  accom- 

15  modated  to  the  freest  progress.  We  have  set  the  just  and 
necessary  limits.  We  have  put  all  kinds  of  unfair  com 
petition  under  the  ban  and  penalty  of  the  law.  We  have 
barred  monopoly.  These  fatal  and  ugly  things  being 
excluded,  we  must  now  quicken  action  and  facilitate 

20  enterprise  by  every  just  means  within  our  choice.  There 
will  be  peace  in  the  business  world,  and,  with  peace,  re 
vived  confidence  and  life. 

We  ought  both  to  husband  and  to  develop  our  natural 
resources,  our  mines,  our  forests,  our  water  power.  I  wish 

25  we  could  have  made  more  progress  than  we  have  made  in 
this  vital  matter;  and  I  call  once  more,  with  the  deepest 
earnestness  and  solicitude,  upon  the  advocates  of  a  careful 
and  provident  conservation,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the 
advocates  of  a  free  and  inviting  field  for  private  capital, 

30  on  the  other,  to  get  together  in  a  spirit  of  genuine  accom 
modation  and  agreement  and  set  this  great  policy  forward 
at  once. 

We  must  hearten  and  quicken  the  spirit  and  efficiency  of 
labor  throughout  our  whole  industrial  system  by  every- 


Speech  of  Acceptance  203 

where  and  in  all  occupations  doing  justice  to  the  laborer, 
not  only  by  paying  a  living  wage  but  also  by  making  all  the 
conditions  that  surround  labor  what  they  ought  to  be. 
And  we  must  do  more  than  justice.  We  must  safeguard 
life  and  promote  health  and  safety  in  every  occupation  in  5 
which  they  are  threatened  or  imperilled.  That  is  more 
than  justice,  and  better,  because  it  is  humanity  and 
economy. 

We  must  coordinate  the  railway  systems  of  the  country 
for  national  use,  and  must  facilitate  and  promote  their  10 
development  with  a  view  to  that  coordination  and  to  their 
better  adaptation  as  a  whole  to  the  life  and  trade  and 
defense  of  the  nation.  The  life  and  industry  of  the  country 
can  be  free  and  unhampered  only  if  these  arteries  are  open, 
efficient,  and  complete.  15 

Thus  shall  we  stand  ready  to  meet  the  future  as  cir 
cumstance  and  international  policy  effect  their  unfolding, 
whether  the  changes  come  slowly  or  come  fast  and  without 
preface. 

I  have  not  spoken  explicitly,  Gentlemen,  of  the  plat-  20 
form  adopted  at  St.  Louis;  but  it  has  been  implicit  in  all 
that  I  have  said.    I  have  sought  to  interpret  its  spirit  and 
meaning.    The  people  of  the  United  States  do  not  need  to 
be  assured  now  that  that  platform  is  a  definite  pledge,  a 
practical  program.     We  have  proved  to  them  that  our  25 
promises  are  made  to  be  kept. 

We  hold  very  definite  ideals.  We  believe  that  the 
energy  and  initiative  of  our  people  have  been  too  narrowly 
coached  and  superintended;  that  they  should  be  set  free,  as 
we  have  set  them  free,  to  disperse  themselves  throughout  30 
the  nation;  that  they  should  not  be  concentrated  in  the 
hands  of  a  few  powerful  guides  and  guardians,  as  our 
opponents  have  again  and  again,  in  effect  if  not  in  purpose, 
sought  to  concentrate  them.  We  believe,  moreover, — 


204  Wood  row  Wilson 

who  that  looks  about  him  now  with  comprehending  eye 
can  fail  to  believe? — that  the  day  of  Little  Americanism, 
with  its  narrow  horizons,  when  methods  of  "protection" 
and  industrial  nursing  were  the  chief  study  of  our  pro- 
vincial  statesmen,  are  past  and  gone  and  that  a  day  of 
enterprise  has  at  last  dawned  for  the  United  States  whose 
field  is  the  wide  world. 

We  hope  to  see  the  stimulus  of  that  new  day  draw  all 
America,  the  republics  of  both  continents,  on  to  a  new  life 

10  and  energy  and  initiative  in  the  great  affairs  of  peace. 
We  are  Americans  for  Big  America,  and  rejoice  to  look 
forward  to  the  days  in  which  America  shall  strive  to  stir 
the  world  without  irritating  it  or  drawing  it  on  to  new 
antagonisms,  when  the  nations  with  which  we  deal  shall 
at  last  come  to  see  upon  what  deep  foundations  of  hu- 

15  manity  and  justice  our  passion  for  peace  rests,  and  when 
all  mankind  shall  look  upon  our  great  people  with  a  new 
sentiment  of  admiration,  friendly  rivalry  and  real  affection, 
as  upon  a  people  who,  though  keen  to  succeed,  seeks  always 
to  be  at  once  generous  and  just  and  to  whom  humanity  is 

20  dearer  than  profit  or  selfish  power. 

Upon  this  record  and  in  the  faith  of  this  purpose  we  go 
to  the  country. 


LINCOLN'S  BEGINNINGS 

[Address  delivered  September  4,  1916,  on  the  acceptance  of  a  deed 
of  gift  to  the  Nation,  by  the  Lincoln  Farm  Association,  of  the  Lincoln 
Birthplace  Farm,  at  Hodgenville,  Kentucky.] 

No  more  significant  memorial  could  have  been  pre 
sented  to  the  nation  than  this.  It  expresses  so  much  of 
what  is  singular  and  noteworthy  in  the  history  of  the 
country;  it  suggests  so  many  of  the  things  that  we  prize 
most  highly  in  our  life  and  in  our  system  of  government.  5 
How  eloquent  this  little  house  within  this  shrine  is  of  the 
vigor  of  democracy!  There  is  nowhere  in  the  land  any 
home  so  remote,  so  humble,  that  it  may  not  contain  the 
power  of  mind  and  heart  and  conscience  to  which  nations 
yield  and  history  submits  its  processes.  Nature  pays  no  10 
tribute  to  aristocracy,  subscribes  to  no  creed  of  caste, 
renders  fealty  to  no  monarch  or  master  of  any  name  or 
kind.  Genius  is  no  snob.  It  does  not  run  after  titles  or 
seek  by  preference  the  high  circles  of  society.  It  affects 
humble  company  as  well  as  great.  It  pays  no  special  15 
tribute  to  universities  or  learned  societies  or  conventional 
standards  of  greatness,  but  serenely  chooses  its  own  com 
rades,  its  own  haunts,  its  own  cradle  even,  and  its  own 
life  of  adventure  and  of  training.  Here  is  proof  of  it.  This 
little  hut  was  the  cradle  of  one  of  the  great  sons  of  men,  20 
a  man  of  singular,  delightful,  vital  genius  who  presently 
emerged  upon  the  great  stage  of  the  nation's  history, 
gaunt,  shy,  ungainly,  but  dominant  and  majestic,  a  nat 
ural  ruler  of  men,  himself  inevitably  the  central  figure 
of  the  great  plot.  No  man  can  explain  this,  but  every  25 
man  can  see  how  it  demonstrates  the  vigor  of  democracy, 
where  every  door  is  open,  in  every  hamlet  and  country- 

205 


206  Woodrow  Wilson 

side,  in  city  and  wilderness  alike,  for  the  ruler  to  emerge 
when  he  will  and  claim  his  leadership  in  the  free  life. 
Such  are  the  authentic  proofs  of  the  validity  and  vitality 
of  democracy. 

5  Here,  no  less,  hides  the  mystery  of  democracy.  Who 
shall  guess  this  secret  of  nature  and  providence  and  a 
free  polity?  Whatever  the  vigor  and  vitality  of  the  stock 
from  which  he  sprang,  its  mere  vigor  and  soundness  do 
not  explain  where  this  man  got  his  great  heart  that  seemed 

10  to  comprehend  all  mankind  in  its  catholic  and  benignant 
sympathy,  the  mind  that  sat  enthroned  behind  those 
brooding,  melancholy  eyes,  whose  vision  swept  many  an 
horizon  which  those  about  him  dreamed  not  of, — that 
mind  that  comprehended  what  it  had  never  seen,  and 

15  understood  the  language  of  affairs  with  the  ready  ease  of 
one  to  the  manner  born, — or  that  nature  which  seemed  in 
its  varied  richness  to  be  the  familiar  of  men  of  every  way 
of  life.  This  is  the  sacred  mystery  of  democracy,  that 
its  richest  fruits  spring  up  out  of  soils  which  no  man  has 

20  prepared  and  in  circumstances  amidst  which  they  are  the 
least  expected.  This  is  a  place  alike  of  mystery  and  of 
reassurance. 

It  is  likely  that  in  a  society  ordered  otherwise  than  our 
own  Lincoln  could  not  have  found  himself  or  the  path  of 

25  fame  and  power  upon  which  he  walked  serenely  to  his 
death.  In  this  place  it  is  right  that  we  should  remind 
ourselves  of  the  solid  and  striking  facts  upon  which  our 
faith  in  democracy  is  founded.  Many  another  man  be 
sides  Lincoln  has  served  the  nation  in  its  highest  places  of 

30  counsel  and  of  action  whose  origins  were  as  humble  as  his. 
Though  the  greatest  example  of  the  universal  energy, 
richness,  stimulation,  and  force  of  democracy,  he  is  only 
one  example  among  many.  The  permeating  and  all- 
pervasive  virtue  of  the  freedom  which  challenges  us  in 


Lincoln's  Beginnings  207 

America  to  make  the  most  of  every  gift  and  power  we 
possess  every  page  of  our  history  serves  to  emphasize 
and  illustrate.  Standing  here  in  this  place,  it  seems  almost 
the  whole  of  the  stirring  story. 

Here  Lincoln  had  his  beginnings.     Here  the  end  and    5 
consummation  of  that  great  life  seem  remote  and  a  bit 
incredible.     And  yet  there  was  no  break  anywhere  be 
tween  beginning  and  end,  no  lack  of  natural  sequence 
anywhere.    Nothing  really  incredible  happened.    Lincoln 
was  unaffectedly  as  much  at  home  in  the  White  House  as  10 
he  was  here.    Do  you  share  with  me  the  feeling,  I  wonder, 
that  he  was  permanently  at  home  nowhere?    It  seems  to 
me  that  in  the  case  of  a  man, — I  would  rather  say  of  a 
spirit, — like  Lincoln  the  question  where  he  was  is  of  little 
significance,  that  it  is  always  what  he  was  that  really  ar-  15 
rests  our  thought  and  takes  hold  of  our  imagination. 
It  is  the  spirit  always  that  is  sovereign.    Lincoln,  like  the 
rest  of  us,  was  put  through  the  discipline  of  the  world, — a 
very  rough  and  exacting  discipline  for  him,  an  indispen 
sable  discipline  for  every  man  who  would  know  what  he  20 
is  about  in  the  midst  of  the  world's  affairs;  but  his  spirit 
got  only  its  schooling  there.    It  did  not  derive  its  character 
or  its  vision  from  the  experiences  which  brought  it  to  its 
full  revelation.    The  test  of  every  American  must  always 
be,  not  where  he  is,  but  what  he  is.    That,  also,  is  of  the  25 
essence  of  democracy,  and  is  the  moral  of  which  this  place 
is  most  gravely  expressive. 

We  would  like  to  think  of  men  like  Lincoln  and  Wash 
ington  as  typical  Americans,  but  no  man  can  be  typical 
who  is  so  unusual  as  these  great  men  were.  It  was  typical  30 
of  American  life  that  it  should  produce  such  men  with 
supreme  indifference  as  to  the  manner  in  which  it  pro 
duced  them,  and  as  readily  here  in  this  hut  as  amidst  the 
little  circle  of  cultivated  gentlemen  to  whom  Virginia 


2o8  Wood  row  Wilson 

owed  so  much  in  leadership  and  example.  And  Lincoln 
and  Washington  were  typical  Americans  in  the  use  they 
made  of  their  genius.  But  there  will  be  few  such  men  at 
best,  and  we  will  not  look  into  the  mystery  of  how  and 

5  why  they  come.  We  will  only  keep  the  door  open  for 
them  always,  and  a  hearty  welcome, — after  we  have 
recognized  them. 

I  have  read  many  biographies  of  Lincoln;  I  have  sought 
out  with  the  greatest  interest  the  many  intimate  stories 

10  that  are  told  of  him,  the  narratives  of  nearby  friends,  the 
sketches  at  close  quarters,  in  which  those  who  had  the 
privilege  of  being  associated  with  him  have  tried  to  depict 
for  us  the  very  man  himself  "in  his  habit  as  he  lived;" 
but  I  have  nowhere  found  a  real  intimate  of  Lincoln's.  I 

15  nowhere  get  the  impression  in  any  narrative  or  reminis 
cence  that  the  writer  had  in  fact  penetrated  to  the  heart 
of  his  mystery,  or  that  any  man  could  penetrate  to  the 
heart  of  it.  That  brooding  spirit  had  no  real  familiars.  I 
get  the  impression  that  it  never  spoke  out  in  complete 

20  self-revelation,  and  that  it  could  not  reveal  itself  com 
pletely  to  anyone.  It  was  a  very  lonely  spirit  that  looked 
out  from  underneath  those  shaggy  brows  and  compre 
hended  men  without  fully  communing  with  them,  as  if, 
in  spite  of  all  its  genial  efforts  at  comradeship,  it  dwelt 

25  apart,  saw  its  visions  of  duty  where  no  man  looked  on. 
There  is  a  very  holy  and  very  terrible  isolation  for  the 
conscience  of  every  man  who  seeks  to  read  the  destiny 
in  affairs  for  others  as  well  as  for  himself,  for  a  nation  as 
well  as  for  individauls.  That  privacy  no  man  can  intrude 

30  upon.  That  lonely  search  of  the  spirit  for  the  right  per 
haps  no  man  can  assist.  This  strange  child  of  the  cabin 
kept  company  with  invisible  things,  was  born  into  no 
intimacy  but  that  of  its  own  silently  assembling  and  de 
ploying  thoughts. 


Lincoln's  Beginnings  209 

I  have  come  here  to-day,  not  to  utter  a  eulogy  on  Lin 
coln;  he  stands  in  need  of  none,  but  to  endeavor  to  inter 
pret  the  meaning  of  this  gift  to  the  nation  of  the  place  of 
his  birth  and  origin.  Is  not  this  an  altar  upon  which  we 
may  forever  keep  alive  the  vestal  fire  of  democracy  as  5 
upon  a  shrine  at  which  some  of  the  deepest  and  most 
sacred  hopes  of  mankind  may  from  age  to  age  be  re 
kindled?  For  these  hopes  must  constantly  be  rekindled, 
and  only  those  who  live  can  rekindle  them.  The  only 
stuff  that  can  retain  the  life-giving  heat  is  the  stuff  of  10 
living  hearts.  And  the  hopes  of  mankind  cannot  be  kept 
alive  by  words  merely,  by  constitutions  and  doctrines  of 
right  and  codes  of  liberty.  The  object  of  democracy  is  to 
transmute  these  into  the  life  and  action  of  society,  the 
self-denial  and  self-sacrifice  of  heroic  men  and  women  15 
willing  to  make  their  lives  an  embodiment  of  right  and 
service  and  enlightened  purpose.  The  commands  of 
democracy  are  as  imperative  as  its  privileges  and  oppor 
tunities  are  wide  and  generous.  Its  compulsion  is  upon 
us.  It  will  be  great  and  lift  a  great  light  for  the  guidance  20 
of  the  nations  only  if  we  are  great  and  carry  that  light 
high  for  the  guidance  of  our  own  feet.  We  are  not  worthy  k 
to  stand  here  unless  we  ourselves  be  in  deed  and  in  truth 
real  democrats  and  servants  of  mankind,  ready  to  give 
our  very  lives  for  the  freedom  and  justice  and  spiritual  ex 
altation  of  the  great  nation  which  shelters  and  nurtures  us. 


- 


THE  TRIUMPH  OF  WOMEN'S  SUFFRAGE 

[Address  at  the  Suffrage  Convention,  Atlantic  City,  New  Jersey, 
Septebmer  8,  1916.] 

MADAM  PRESIDENT,  LADIES  or  THE  ASSOCIATION: 

I  have  found  it  a  real  privilege  to  be  here  to-night  and 
to  listen  to  the  addresses  which  you  have  heard.  Though 
you  may  not  all  of  you  believe  it,  I  would  a  great  deal 

5  rather  hear  somebody  else  speak  than  speak  myself;  but 
I  should  feel  that  I  was  omitting  a  duty  if  I  did  not  address 
you  to-night  and  say  some  of  the  things  that  have  been 
in  my  thought  as  I  realized  the  approach  of  this  evening 
and  the  duty  that  would  fall  upon  me. 

10  The  astonishing  thing  about  the  movement  which  you 
represent  is,  not  that  it  has  grown  so  slowly,  but  that  it 
has  grown  so  rapidly.  No  doubt  for  those  who  have  been 
a  long  time  in  the  struggle,  like  your  honored  president, 
it  seems  a  long  and  arduous  path  that  has  been  trodden, 

15  but  when  you  think  of  the  cumulating  force  of  this  move 
ment  in  recent  decades,  you  must  agree  with  me  that  it  is 
one  of  the  most  astonishing  tides  in  modern  history.  Two 
generations  ago,  no  doubt  Madam  President  will  agree 
with  me  in  saying,  it  was  a  handful  of  women  who  were 

20  fighting  this  cause.  Now  it  is  a  great  multitude  of  women 
who  are  fighting  it. 

And  there  are  some  interesting  historical  connections 
which  I  would  like  to  attempt  to  point  out  to  you.  One 
of  the  most  striking  facts  about  the  history  of  the  United 

25  States  is  that  at  the  outset  it  was  a  lawyers'  history. 
Almost  all  of  the  questions  to  which  America  addressed 
itself,  say  a  hundred  years  ago,  were  legal  questions,  were 
210 


The    Triumph    of    Women's    Suffrage     211 

questions  of  method,  not  questions  of  what  you  were 
going  to  do  with  your  Government,  but  questions  of  how 
you  were  going  to  constitute  your  Government, — how 
you  were  going  to  balance  the  powers  of  the  States  and 
the  Federal  Government,  how  you  were  going  to  balance  5 
the  claims  of  property  against  the  processes  of  liberty, 
how  you  were  going  to  make  your  governments  up  so  as 
to  balance  the  parts  against  each  other  so  that  the  legisla 
ture  would  check  the  executive,  and  the  executive  the 
legislature,  and  the  courts  both  of  them  put  together.  10 
The  whole  conception  of  government  when  the  United 
States  became  a  Nation  was  a  mechanical  conception  of 
government,  and  the  mechanical  conception  of  govern 
ment  which  underlay  it  was  the  Newtonian  theory  of  the 
universe.  If  you  pick  up  the  Federalist,  some  parts  of  15 
it  read  like  a  treatise  on  astronomy  instead  of  a  treatise 
on  government.  They  speak  of  the  centrifugal  and  the 
centripetal  forces,  and  locate  the  President  somewhere 
in  a  rotating  system.  The  whole  thing  is  a  calculation  of 
power  and  an  adjustment  of  parts.  There  was  a  time  20 
when  nobody  but  a  lawyer  could  know  enough  to 
run  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  and  a  dis 
tinguished  English  publicist  once  remarked,  speaking 
of  the  complexity  of  the  American  Government,  that 
it  was  no  proof  of  the  excellence  of  the  American  25 
Constitution  that  it  had  been  successfully  operated, 
because  the  Americans  could  run  any  constitution.  But 
there  have  been  a  great  many  technical  difficulties  in 
running  it. 

And  then  something  happened.    A  great  question  arose  30 
in   this  country  which,   though  complicated  with  legal 
elements,  was  at  bottom  a  human  question,  and  nothing 
but  a  question  of  humanity.    That  was  the  slavery  ques 
tion.    And  is  it  not  significant  that  it  was  then,  and  then 


212  Woodrow  Wilson 

for  the  first  time,  that  women  became  prominent  in  politics 
in  America?  Not  many  women;  those  prominent  in  that 
day  were  so  few  that  you  can  name  them  over  in  a  brief 
catalogue,  but,  nevertheless,  they  then  began  to  play  a 
5  part  in  writing,  not  only,  but  in  public  speech,  which  was 
a  very  novel  part  for  women  to  play  in  America.  After 
the  Civil  War  had  settled  some  of  what  seemed  to  be  the 
most  difficult  legal  questions  of  our  system,  the  life  of  the 
Nation  began  not  only  to  unfold,  but  to  accumulate. 

10  Life  in  the  United  States  was  a  comparatively  simple 
matter  at  the  time  of  the  Civil  War.  There  was  none  of 
that  underground  struggle  which  is  now  so  manifest  to 
those  who  look  only  a  little  way  beneath  the  surface. 
Stories  such  as  Dr.  Davis  has  told  to-night  were  uncommon 

15  in  those  simpler  days.  The  pressure  of  low  wages,  the 
agony  of  obscure  and  unremunerated  toil,  did  not  exist  in 
America  in  anything  like  the  same  proportions  that  they 
exist  now.  And  as  our  life  has  unfolded  and  accumulated, 
as  the  contacts  of  it  have  become  hot,  as  the  populations 

20  have  assembled  in  the  cities,  and  the  cool  spaces  of  the 
country  have  been  supplanted  by  the  feverish  urban 
areas,  the  whole  nature  of  our  political  questions  has  been 
altered.  They  have  ceased  to  be  legal  questions.  They 
have  more  and  more  become  social  questions,  questions 

25  with  regard  to  the  relations  of  human  beings  to  one  an 
other, — not  merely  their  legal  relations,  but  their  moral 
and  spiritual  relations  to  one  another.  This  has  been 
most  characteristic  of  American  life  in  the  last  few  dec 
ades,  and  as  these  questions  have  assumed  greater 

30  and  greater  prominence,  the  movement  which  this  as 
sociation  represents  has  gathered  cumulative  force.  So 
that,  if  anybody  asks  himself,  "What  does  this  gather 
ing  force  mean,"  if  he  knows  anything  about  the  his 
tory  of  the  country,  he  knows  that  it  means  something 


The    Triumph    of    Women's    Suffr 

that  has  not  only  come  to  stay,  but  has  con' 
quering  power. 

I  get  a  little  impatient  sometimes  about  the  discuss 
of  the  channels  and  methods  by  which  it  is  to  prevail. 
It  is  going  to  prevail,  and  that  is  a  very  superficial  and    5 
ignorant  view  of  it  which  attributes  it  to  mere  social  un 
rest.    It  is  not  merely  because  the  women  are  discontented. 
It  is  because  the  women  have  seen  visions  of  duty,  and 
that  is  something  which  we  not  only  cannot  resist,  but, 
if  we  be  true  Americans,  we  do  not  wish  to  resist.    America  10 
took  its  origin  in  visions  of  the  human  spirit,  in  aspira 
tions  for  the  deepest  sort  of  liberty  of  the  mind  and  of  the 
heart,  and  as  visions  of  that  sort  come  up  to  the  sight  of 
those  who  are  spiritually  minded  in  America,  America 
comes  more  and  more  into  her  birthright  and  into  the  per-  15 
fection  of  her  development. 

So  that  what  we  have  to  realize  in  dealing  with  forces 
of  this  sort  is  that  we  are  dealing  with  the  substance  of 
life  itself.  I  have  felt  as  I  sat  here  to-night  the  wholesome 
contagion  of  the  occasion.  Almost  every  other  time  that  20 
I  ever  visited  Atlantic  City,  I  came  to  fight  somebody. 
I  hardly  know  how  to  conduct  myself  when  I  have  not 
come  to  fight  against  anybody,  but  with  somebody.  I 
have  come  to  suggest,  among  other  things,  that  when  the 
forces  of  nature  are  steadily  working  and  the  tide  is  rising  25 
to  meet  the  moon,  you  need  not  be  afraid  that  it  will  not 
come  to  its  flood.  We  feel  the  tide;  we  rejoice  in  the 
strength  of  it;  and  we  shall  not  quarrel  in  the  long  run  as 
to  the  method  of  it.  Because,  when  you  are  working  with 
masses  of  men  and  organized  bodies  of  opinion,  you  have  30 
got  to  carry  the  organized  body  along.  The  whole  art 
and  practice  of  government  consists  not  in  moving  in 
dividuals,  but  in  moving  masses.  It  is  all  very  well  to 
run  ahead  and  beckon,  but,  after  all,  you  have  got  to 


Woodrow  Wilson 

wait  for  the  body  to  follow.  I  have  not  come  to  ask  you 
to  be  patient,  because  you  have  been,  but  I  have  come  to 
congratulate  you  that  there  was  a  force  behind  you  that 
will  beyond  any  peradventure  be  triumphant,  and  for 
5  which  you  can  afford  a  little  while  to  wait. 


THE  TERMS  OF  PEACE 

[Address  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  delivered  January  22, 
1917.] 

GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  SENATE: 

On  the  eighteenth  of  December  last  I  addressed  an 
identic  note  to  the  governments  of  the  nations  now  at 
war  requesting  them  to  state,  more  definitely  than  they 
had  yet  been  stated  by  either  group  of  belligerents,  the  5 
terms  upon  which  they  would  deem  it  possible  to  make 
peace.  I  spoke  on  behalf  of  humanity  and  of  the  rights 
of  all  neutral  nations  like  our  own,  many  of  whose  most 
vital  interests  the  war  puts  in  constant  jeopardy.  The 
Central  Powers  united  in  a  reply  which  stated  merely  10 
that  they  were  ready  to  meet  their  antagonists  in  con 
ference  to  discuss  terms  of  peace.  The  Entente  Powers 
have  replied  much  more  definitely  and  have  stated,  in 
general  terms,  indeed,  but  with  sufficient  definiteness  to 
imply  details,  the  arrangements,  guarantees,  and  acts  of  15 
reparation  which  they  deem  to  be  the  indispensable  con 
ditions  of  a  satisfactory  settlement.  We  are  that  much 
nearer  a  definite  discussion  of  the  peace  which  shall  end 
the  present  war.  We  are  that  much  nearer  the  discussion 
of  the  international  concert  which  must  thereafter  hold  20 
the  world  at  peace.  In  every  discussion  of  the  peace 
that  must  end  this  war  it  is  taken  for  granted  that  that 
peace  must  be  followed  by  some  definite  concert  of  power 
which  will  make  it  virtually  impossible  that  any  such 
catastrophe  should  ever  overwhelm  us  again.  Every  lover  25 
of  mankind,  every  sane  and  thoughtful  man  must  take 
that  for  granted. 

215 


216  Woodrow  Wilson 

I  have  sought  this  opportunity  to  address  you  because 
I  thought  that  I  owed  it  to  you,  as  the  council  associated 
with  me  in  the  final  determination  of  our  international 
obligations,  to  disclose  to  you  without  reserve  the  thought 
5  and  purpose  that  have  been  taking  form  in  my  mind  in 
regard  to  the  duty  of  our  Government  in  the  days  to  come 
when  it  will  be  necessary  to  lay  afresh  and  upon  a  new 
plan  the  foundations  of  peace  among  the  nations. 

It  is  inconceivable  that  the  people  of  the  United  States 

10  should  play  no  part  in  that  great  enterprise.  To  take 
part  in  such  a  service  will  be  the  opportunity  for  which 
they  have  sought  to  prepare  themselves  by  the  very 
principles  and  purposes  of  their  polity  and  the  approved 
practices  of  their  Government  ever  since  the  days  when 

15  they  set  up  a  new  nation  in  the  high  and  honorable  hope 
that  it  might  in  all  that  it  was  and  did  show  mankind  the 
way  to  liberty.  They  cannot  in  honor  withhold  the  serv 
ice  to  which  they  are  now  about  to  be  challenged.  They 
do  not  wish  to  withhold  it.  But  they  owe  it  to  themselves 

20  and  to  the  other  nations  of  the  world  to  state  the  condi 
tions  under  which  they  will  feel  free  to  render  it. 

That  service  is  nothing  less  than  this,  to  add  their  au 
thority  and  their  power  to  the  authority  and  force  of 
other  nations  to  guarantee  peace  and  justice  throughout 

25  the  world.  Such  a  settlement  cannot  now  be  long  post 
poned.  It  is  right  that  before  it  comes  this  Government 
should  frankly  formulate  the  conditions  upon  which  it 
would  feel  justified  in  asking  our  people  to  approve  its 
formal  and  solemn  adherence  to  a  League  for  Peace.  I 

30  am  here  to  attempt  to  state  those  conditions. 

The  present  war  must  first  be  ended;  but  we  owe  it  to 
candor  and  to  a  just  regard  for  the  opinion  of  mankind 
to  say  that,  so  far  as  our  participation  in  guarantees  of 
future  peace  is  concerned,  it  makes  a  great  deal  of  dif- 


The  Terms  of  Peace  217 

ference  in  what  way  and  upon  what  terms  it  is  ended. 
The  treaties  and  agreements  which  bring  it  to  an  end 
must  embody  terms  which  will  create  a  peace  that  is 
worth  guaranteeing  and  preserving,  a  peace  that  will  win 
the  approval  of  mankind,  not  merely  a  peace  that  will   ^ 
serve  the  several  interests  and  immediate  aims  of  the 
nations  engaged.    We  shall  have  no  voice  in  determining 
what  those  terms  shall  be,  but  we  shall,  I  feel  sure,  have  ' 
a  voice  in  determining  whether  they  shall  be  made  lasting 
or  not  by  the  guarantees  of  a  universal  covenant;  and  10 
our  judgment  upon  what  is  fundamental  and  essential  as 
a  condition  precedent  to  permanency  should  be  spoken 
now,  not  afterwards  when  it  may  be  too  late. 

No  covenant  of  cooperative  peace  that  does  not  include 
the  peoples  of  the  New  World  can  suffice  to  keep  the  15 
future  safe  against  war;  and  yet  there  is  only  one  sort  of 
peace  that  the  peoples  of  America  could  join  in  guaran 
teeing.     The  elements  of  that  peace  must  be  elements 
that  engage  the  confidence  and  satisfy  the  principles  of 
the   American    governments,    elements    consistent    with  20 
their  political  faith  and  with  the  practical  convictions 
which  the  peoples  of  America  have  once  for  all  embraced 
and  undertaken  to  defend. 

I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  any  American  government 
would  throw  any  obstacle  in  the  way  of  any  terms  of  25 
peace  the  governments  now  at  war  might  agree  upon,  or 
seek  to  upset  them  when  made,  whatever  they  might  be. 
I  only  take  it  for  granted  that  mere  terms  of  peace  be 
tween  the  belligerents  will  not  satisfy  even  the  belligerents 
themselves.  Mere  agreements  may  not  make  peace  30 
secure.  It  will  be  absolutely  necessary  that  a  force  be 
created  as  a  guarantor  of  the  permanency  of  the  settle 
ment  so  much  greater  than  the  force  of  any  nation  now 
engaged  or  any  alliance  hitherto  formed  or  projected 


^u  Wg£&  WV*1 

21 8  Woodrow  Wilson 

that  no  nation,  no  probable  combination  of  nations  could 
face  or  withstand  it.  If  the  peace  presently  to  be  made  is 
to  endure,  it  must  be  a  peace  made  secure  by  the  organized 
major  force  of  mankind. 

5  The  terms  of  the  immediate  peace  agreed  upon  will 
determine  whether  it  is  a  peace  for  which  such  a  guarantee 
can  be  secured.  The  question  upon  which  the  whole  future 
peace  and  policy  of  the  wrorld  depends  is  this:  Is  the  present 
war  a  struggle  for  a  just  and  secure  peace,  or  only  for  a 

10  new  balance  of  power?    If  it  be  only  a  struggle  for  a  new 

balance  of  power,  who  will  guarantee,  who  can  guarantee, 

•    the  stable  equilibrium  of  the  new  arrangement?    Only  a 

i    tranquil  Europe  can  be  a  stable  Europe.    There  must  be, 

not  a  balance  of  power,  but  a  community  of  power;  not 

LIE  organized  rivalries,  but  an  organized  common  peace. 

( \  Fortunately  we  have  received  very  explicit  assurances  on 
this  point.  The  statesmen  of  both  of  the  groups  of  nations 
now  arrayed  against  one  another  have  said,  in  terms  that 
could  not  be  misinterpreted,  that  it  was  no  part  of  the 

20  purpose  they  had  in  mind  to  crush  their  antagonists.  But 
the  implications  of  these  assurances  may  not  be  equally 
clear  to  all, — may  not  be  the  same  on  both  sides  of  the 
water.  I  think  it  will  be  serviceable  if  I  attempt  to  set 
forth  what  we  understand  them  to  be. 

25  They  imply,  first  of  all,  that  it  must  be  a  peace  without 
victory.  It  is  not  pleasant  to  say  this.  I  beg  that  I  may 
be  permitted  to  put  my  own  interpretation  upon  it  and 
that  it  may  be  understood  that  no  other  interpretation  was 
in  my  thought.  I  am  seeking  only  to  face  realities  and  to 

30  face  them  without  soft  concealments.  Victory  would 
mean  peace  forced  upon  the  loser,  a  victor's  terms  imposed 
upon  the  vanquished.  It  would  be  accepted  in  humiliation, 
under  duress,  at  an  intolerable  sacrifice,  and  would  leave  a 
sting,  a  resentment,  a  bitter  memory  upon  which  terms  of 


The  Terms  of  Peace  219 

peace  would  rest,  not  permanently,  but  only  as  upon  quick 
sand.  Only  a  peace  between  equals  can  last.  Only  a  peace 
the  very  principle  of  which  is  equality  and  a  common  par 
ticipation  in  a  common  benefit.  The  right  state  of  mind, 
the  right  feeling  between  nations,  is  as  necessary  for  a  5 
lasting  peace  as  is  the  just  settlement  of  vexed  questions  of 
territory  or  of  racial  and  national  allegiance. 

The  equality  of  nations  upon  which  peace  must  be 
founded  if  it  is  to  last  must  be  an  equality  of  rights;  the 
guarantees  exchanged  must  neither  recognize  nor  imply  a  10 
difference  between  big  nations  and  small,  between  those 
that  are  powerful  and  those  that  are  weak.  Right  must 
be  based  upon  the  common  strength,  not  upon  the  in 
dividual  strength,  of  the  nations  upon  whose  concert  peace 
will  depend.  Equality  of  territory  or  of  resources  there  of  15 
course  cannot  be ;  nor  any  other  sort  of  equality  not  gained 
in  the  ordinary  peaceful  and  legitimate  development  of  the 
peoples  themselves.  But  no  one  asks  or  expects  anything 
more  than  an  equality  of  rights.  Mankind  is  looking  now 
for  freedom  of  life,  not  for  equipoises  of  powrer.  20 

And  there  is  a  deeper  thing  involved  than  even  equality 
of  right  among  organized  nations.  No  peace  can  last,  or 
ought  to  last,  which  does  not  recognize  and  accept  the 
principle  that  governments  derive  all  their  just  powers 
from  the  consent  of  the  governed,  and  that  no  right  any-  25 
where  exists  to  hand  peoples  about  from  sovereignty  to 
sovereignty  as  if  they  were  property.  I  take  it  for  granted, 
for  instance,  if  I  may  venture  upon  a  single  example,  that 
statesmen  everywhere  are  agreed  that  there  should  be  a 
united,  independent,  and  autonomous  Poland,  and  that  30 
henceforth  inviolable  security  of  life,  of  worship,  and  of  in 
dustrial  and  social  development  should  be  guaranteed  to  all 
peoples  who  have  lived  hitherto  under  the  power  of  govern 
ments  devoted  to  a  faith  and  purpose  hostile  to  their  own. 


220  Woodrow  Wilson 

I  speak  of  this,  not  because  of  any  desire  to  exalt  an 
abstract  political  principle  which  has  always  been  held 
very  dear  by  those  who  have  sought  to  build  up  liberty  in 
America,  but  for  the  same  reason  that  I  have  spoken  of 
5  the  other  conditions  of  peace  which  seem  to  me  clearly 
indispensable, — because  I  wish  frankly  to  uncover  realities. 
Any  peace  which  does  not  recognize  and  accept  this  prin 
ciple  will  inevitably  be  upset.  It  will  not  rest  upon  the 
affections  or  the  convictions  of  mankind.  The  ferment  of 

10  spirit  of  whole  populations  will  fight  subtly  and  constantly 
against  it,  and  all  the  world  will  sympathize.  The  world 
can  be  at  peace  only  if  its  life  is  stable,  and  there  can  be  no 
stability  where  the  will  is  in  rebellion,  where  there  is  not 
tranquillity  of  spirit  and  a  sense  of  justice,  of  freedom,  and 

15  of  right. 

So  far  as  practicable,  moreover,  every  great  people  now 
struggling  towards  a  full  development  of  its  resources  and 
of  its  powers  should  be  assured  a  direct  outlet  to  the  great 
highways  of  the  sea.  Where  this  cannot  be  done  by  the 

20  cession  of  territory,  it  can  no  doubt  be  done  by  the  neu 
tralization  of  direct  rights  of  way  under  the  general  guar 
antee  which  will  assure  the  peace  itself.  With  a  right 
comity  of  arrangement  no  nation  need  be  shut  away  from 
free  access  to  the  open  paths  of  the  world's  commerce. 

25  And  the  paths  of  the  sea  must  alike  in  law  and  in  fact  be 
free.  The  freedom  of  the  seas  is  the  sine  qua  nan  of  peace, 
equality,  and  cooperation.  No  doubt  a  somewhat  radical 
reconsideration  of  many  of  the  rules  of  international  prac 
tice  hitherto  thought  to  be  established  may  be  necessary 

30  in  order  to  make  the  seas  indeed  free  and  common  in  prac 
tically  all  circumstances  for  the  use  of  mankind,  but  the 
motive  for  such  changes  is  convincing  and  compelling. 
There  can  be  no  trust  or  intimacy  between  the  peoples  of 
the  world  without  them.  The  free,  constant,  unthreatened 


The  Terms  of  Peace  221 

intercourse  of  nations  is  an  essential  part  of  the  process  of 
peace  and  of  development.    It  need  not  be  difficult  either ' 
to  define  or  to  secure  the  freedom  of  the  seas  if  the  govern 
ments  of  the  world  sincerely  desire  to  come  to  an  agreement 
concerning  it.  5 

It  is  a  problem  closely  connected  with  the  limitation  of 
naval  armaments  and  the  cooperation  of  the  navies  of 
the  world  in  keeping  the  seas  at  once  free  and  safe.  And 
the  question  of  limiting  naval  armaments  opens  the  wider 
and  perhaps  more  difficult  question  of  the  limitation  10 
of  armies  and  of  all  programs  of  military  preparation. 
Difficult  and  delicate  as  these  questions  are,  they  must 
be  faced  with  the  utmost  candor  and  decided  in  a  spirit  of 
real  accommodation  if  peace  is  to  come  with  healing  in  its 
wings,  and  come  to  stay.  Peace  cannot  be  had  without  15 
concession  and  sacrifice.  There  can  be  no  sense  of  safety 
and  equality  among  the  nations  if  great  preponderating 
armaments  are  henceforth  to  continue  here  and  there  to  be 
built  up  and  maintained.  The  statesmen  of  the  world  must 
plan  for  peace  and  nations  must  adjust  and  accommodate  20 
their  policy  to  it  as  they  have  planned  for  war  and  made 
ready  for  pitiless  contest  and  rivalry.  The  question  of 
armaments,  whether  on  land  or  sea,  is  the  most  imme 
diately  and  intensely  practical  question  connected  with 
the  future  fortunes  of  nations  and  of  mankind.  25 

I  have  spoken  upon  these  great  matters  without  reserve 
and  with  the  utmost  explicitness  because  it  has  seemed  to 
me  to  be  necessary  if  the  world's  yearning  desire  for  peace 
was  anywhere  to  find  free  voice  and  utterance.  Perhaps 
I  am  the  only  person  in  high  authority  amongst  all  the  30 
peoples  of  the  world  who  is  at  liberty  to  speak  and  hold 
nothing  back.  I  am  speaking  as  an  individual,  and  yet  I 
am  speaking  also,  of  course,  as  the  responsible  head  of  a 
great  government,  and  I  feel  confident  that  I  have  said 


222  Woodrow  Wilson 

what  the  people  of  the  United  States  would  wish  me  to 
say.  May  I  not  add  that  I  hope  and  believe  that  I  am  in 
effect  speaking  for  liberals  and  friends  of  humanity  in 
every  nation  and  -of  every  program  of  liberty?  I 
5  would  fain  believe  that  I  am  speaking  for  the  silent  mass 
of  mankind  everywhere  who  have  as  yet  had  no  place  or 
opportunity  to  speak  their  real  hearts  out  concerning  the 
death  and  ruin  they  see  to  have  come  already  upon  the 
persons  and  the  homes  they  hold  most  dear. 

10  And  in  holding  out  the  expectation  that  the  people  and 
Government  of  the  United  States  will  join  the  other 
civilized  nations  of  the  world  in  guaranteeing  the  per 
manence  of  peace  upon  such  terms  as  I  have  named  I 
speak  with  the  greater  boldness  and  confidence  because  it 

15  is  clear  to  every  man  who  can  think  that  there  is  in  this 
promise  no  breach  in  either  our  traditions  or  our  policy  as  a 
nation,  but  a  fulfilment,  rather,  of  all  that  we  have  pro 
fessed  or  striven  for. 

I  am  proposing,  as  it  were,  that  the  nations  should  with 

20  one  accord  adopt  the  doctrine  of  President  Monroe  as  the 
doctrine  of  the  world :  that  no  nation  should  seek  to  extend 
its  polity  over  any  other  nation  or  people,  but  that  every 
people  should  be  left  free  to  determine  its  own  polity,  its 
own  way  of  development,  unhindered,  unthreatened,  un- 

25  afraid,  the  little  along  with  the  great  and  powerful. 

I  am  proposing  that  all  nations  henceforth  avoid  en 
tangling  alliances  which  would  draw  them  into  competi 
tions  of  power,  catch  them  in  a  net  of  intrigue  and  selfish 
rivalry,  and  disturb  their  own  affairs  with  influences  in- 

30  truded  from  without.  There  is  no  entangling  alliance  in  a 
concert  of  power.  When  all  unite  to  act  in  the  same  sense 
and  with  the  same  purpose  all  act  in  the  common  interest 
and  are  free  to  live  their  own  lives  under  a  common  pro 
tection. 


The  Terms  of  Peace  223 

I  am  proposing  government  by  the  consent  of  the 
governed;  that  freedom  of  the  seas  which  in  international 
conference  after  conference  representatives  of  the  United 
States  have  urged  with  the  eloquence  of  those  who  are  the 
convinced  disciples  of  liberty;  and  that  moderation  of  5 
armaments  which  makes  of  armies  and  navies  a  power  for 
order  merely,  not  an  instrument  of  aggression  or  of  selfish 
violence. 

These  are  American  principles,  American  policies.  We 
could  stand  for  no  others.  And  they  are  also  the  principles  10 
and  policies  of  forward  looking  men  and  women  every 
where,  of  every  modern  nation,  of  every  enlightened  com 
munity.  They  are  the  principles  of  mankind  and  must  pre 
vail. 


MEETING  GERMANY'S  CHALLENGE 

[Address  delivered  at  a  joint  session  of  the  two  Houses  of  Congress, 
February  3,  1917.] 

GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  CONGRESS: 

The  Imperial  German  Government  on  the  thirty-first 
of  January  announced  to  this  Government  and  to  the 
governments  of  the  other  neutral  nations  that  on  and 

5  after  the  first  day  of  February,  the  present  month,  it 
would  adopt  a  policy  with  regard  to  the  use  of  submarines 
against  all  shipping  seeking  to  pass  through  certain  desig 
nated  areas  of  the  high  seas  to  which  it  is  clearly  my  duty 
to  call  your  attention. 

10  Let  me  remind  the  Congress  that  on  the  eighteenth  of 
April  last,  in  view  of  the  sinking  on  the  twenty-fourth  of 
March  of  the  cross-Channel  passenger  steamer  Sussex  by 
a  German  submarine,  without  summons  or  warning,  and 
the  consequent  loss  of  the  lives  of  several  citizens  of  the 

15  United  States  who  were  passengers  aboard  her,  this  Gov 
ernment  addressed  a  note  to  the  Imperial  German  Gov 
ernment  in  which  it  made  the  following  declaration : 

"If  it  is  still  the  purpose  of  the  Imperial  Government  to 
prosecute  relentless  and  indiscriminate  warfare  against 

20  vessels  of  commerce  by  the  use  of  submarines  without 
regard  to  what  the  Government  of  the  United  States  must 
consider  the  sacred  and  indisputable  rules  of  international 
law  and  the  universally  recognized  dictates  of  humanity, 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  is  at  last  forced  to 

25  the  conclusion  that  there  is  but  one  course  it  can  pursue. 
Unless  the  Imperial  Government  should  now  immediately 
declare  and  effect  an  abandonment  of  its  present  methods 

224 


Meeting  Germany's  Challenge  225 

of  submarine  warfare  against  passenger  and  freight- 
carrying  vessels,  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
can  have  no  choice  but  to  sever  diplomatic  relations  with 
the  German  Empire  altogether." 

In  reply  to  this  declaration  the  Imperial  German  Gov-    5 
ernment  gave  this  Government  the  following  assurance: 

"  The  German  Government  is  prepared  to  do  its  utmost 
to  confine  the  operations  of  war  for  the  rest  of  its  duration 
to  the  fighting  forces  of  the  belligerents,  thereby  also  in 
suring  the  freedom  of  the  seas,  a  principle  upon  which  10 
the  German  Government  believes,  now  as  before,  to  be  in 
agreement  with  the  Government  of  the  United  States. 

"The  German  Government,  guided  by  this  idea,  notifies 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  that  the  German 
naval  forces  have  received  the  following  orders:  In  ac-  15 
cordance  with  the  general  principles  of  visit  and  search 
and  destruction  of  merchant  vessels  recognized  by  inter 
national  law,  such  vessels,  both  within  and  without  the 
area  declared  as  naval  war  zone,  shall  not  be  sunk  without 
warning  and  without  saving  human  lives,  unless  these  20 
ships  attempt  to  escape  or  offer  resistance. 

"But,"  it  added,  "neutrals  cannot  expect  that  Ger 
many,  forced  to  fight  for  her  existence,  shall,  for  the  sake 
of  neutral  interest,  restrict  the  use  of  an  effective  weapon 
if  her  enemy  is  permitted  to  continue  to  apply  at  will  25 
methods  of  warfare  violating  the  rules  of  international 
law.  Such  a  demand  would  be  incompatible  with  the 
character  of  neutrality,  and  the  German  Government  is 
convinced  that  the  Government  of  the  United  States  does 
not  think  of  making  such  a  demand,  knowing  that  the  30 
Government  of  the  United  States  has  repeatedly  de 
clared  that  it  is  determined  to  restore  the  principle  of  the 
freedom  of  the  seas,  from  whatever  quarter  it  has  been 
violated." 


226  Woodrow  Wilson 

To  this  the  Government  of  the  United  States  replied 
on  the  eighth  of  May,  accepting,  of  course,  the  assurances 
given,  but  adding, 

"The  Government  of  the  United  States  feels  it  necessary 

5  to  state  that  it  takes  it  for  granted  that  the  Imperial 
German  Government  does  not  intend  to  imply  that  the 
maintenance  of  its  newly  announced  policy  is  in  any  way 
contingent  upon  the  course  or  result  of  diplomatic  negotia 
tions  between  the  Government  of  the  United  States  and 

10  any  other  belligerent  Government,  notwithstanding  the 
fact  that  certain  passages  in  the  Imperial  Government's 
note  of  the  fourth  instant  might  appear  to  be  susceptible  of 
that  construction.  In  order,  however,  to  avoid  any  pos 
sible  misunderstanding,  the  Government  of  the  United 

15  States  notifies  the  Imperial  Government  that  it  cannot 
for  a  moment  entertain,  much  less  discuss,  a  suggestion 
that  respect  by  German  naval  authorities  for  the  rights 
of  citizens  of  the  United  States  upon  the  high  seas  should 
in  any  way  or  in  the  slightest  degree  be  made  contingent 

20  upon  the  conduct  of  any  other  Government  affecting  the 

rights   of  neutrals  and  noncombatants.     Responsibility 

in  such  matters  is  single,  not  joint;  absolute,  not  relative." 

To  this  note  of  the  eighth  of  May  the  Imperial  German 

Government  made  no  reply. 

25  On  the  thirty-first  of  January,  the  Wednesday  of  the 
present  week,  the  German  Ambassador  handed  to  the 
Secretary  of  State,  along  with  a  formal  note,  a  memoran 
dum  which  contains  the  following  statement: 

"The  Imperial  Government,  therefore,  does  not  doubt 

30  that  the  Government  of  the  United  States  will  under 
stand  the  situation  thus  forced  upon  Germany  by  the 
Entente- Allies'  brutal  methods  of  war  and  by  their  deter 
mination  to  destroy  the  Central  Powers,  and  that  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  will  further  realize  that 


Meeting  Germany's  Challenge  227 

the  now  openly  disclosed  intentions  of  the  Entente-Allies 
give  back  to  Germany  the  freedom  of  action  which  she 
reserved  in  her  note  addressed  to  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  on  May  4,  1916. 

"Under  these  circumstances  Germany  will  meet  the    5 
illegal  measures  of  her  enemies  by  forcibly  preventing  after 
February  i,  1917,  in  a  zone  around  Great  Britain,  France, 
Italy,  and  in  the  Eastern  Mediterranean  all  navigation, 
that  of  neutrals  included,  from  and  to  England  and  from 
and  to  France,  etc.,  etc.    All  ships  met  within  the  zone  10 
will  be  sunk." 

I  think  that  you  will  agree  with  me  that,  in  view  of 
this  declaration,  which  suddenly  and  without  prior  intima 
tion  of  any  kind  deliberately  withdraws  the  solemn  as 
surance  given  in  the  Imperial  Government's  note  of  the  15 
fourth  of  May,  1916,  this  Government  has  no  alternative 
consistent  with  the  dignity  and  honor  of  the  United  States 
but  to  take  the  course  which,  in  its  note  of  the  eighteenth 
of  April,  1916,  it  announced  that  it  would  take  in  the  event 
that  the  German  Government  did  not  declare  and  effect  20 
an  abandonment  of  the  methods  of  submarine  warfare 
which  it  was  then  employing  and  to  which  it  now  pur 
poses  again  to  resort. 

I  have,  therefore,  directed  the  Secretary  of  State  to 
announce  to  His  Excellency  the  German  Ambassador  25 
that  all  diplomatic  relations  between  the  United  States 
and  the  German  Empire  are  severed,  and  that  the  Amer 
ican  Ambassador  at  Berlin  will  immediately  be  with 
drawn;  and,  in  accordance  with  this  decision,  to  hand  to 
His  Excellency  his  passports.  30 

Notwithstanding  this  unexpected  action  of  the  German 
Government,  this  sudden  and  deeply  deplorable  renuncia 
tion  of  its  assurances,  given  this  Government  at  one  of 
the  most  critical  moments  of  tension  in  the  relations  of  the 


228  Woodrow  Wilson 

two  governments,  I  refuse  to  believe  that  it  is  the  intention 
of  the  German  authorities  to  do  in  fact  what  they  have 
warned  us  they  will  feel  at  liberty  to  do.  I  cannot  bring 
myself  to  believe  that  they  will  indeed  pay  no  regard  to 
5  the  ancient  friendship  between  their  people  and  our  own 
or  to  the  solemn  obligations  which  have  been  exchanged 
between  them  and  destroy  American  ships  and  take  the 
lives  of  American  citizens  in  the  willful  prosecution  of  the 
ruthless  naval  program  they  have  announced  their  inten- 

10  tion  to  adopt.  Only  actual  overt  acts  on  their  part  can 
make  me  believe  it  even  now. 

If  this  inveterate  confidence  on  my  part  in  the  sobriety 
and  prudent  foresight  of  their  purpose  should  unhappily 
prove  unfounded;  if  American  ships  and  American  lives 

15  should  in  fact  be  sacrificed  by  their  naval  commanders  in 
heedless  contravention  of  the  just  and  reasonable  under 
standings  of  international  law  and  the  obvious  dictates 
of  humanity,  I  shall  take  the  liberty  of  coming  again 
before  the  Congress,  to  ask  that  authority  be  given  me 

20  to  use  any  means  that  may  be  necessary  for  the  protection 
of  our  seamen  and  our  people  in  the  prosecution  of  their 
peaceful  and  legitimate  errands  on  the  high  seas.  I  can 
do  nothing  less.  I  take  it  for  granted  that  all  neutral 
governments  will  take  the  same  course. 

25  We  do  not  desire  any  hostile  conflict  with  the  Imperial 
German  Government.  We  are  the  sincere  friends  of  the 
German  people  and  earnestly  desire  to  remain  at  peace 
with  the  Government  which  speaks  for  them.  We  shall 
not  believe  that  they  are  hostile  to  us  unless  and  until 

30  we  are  obliged  to  believe  it;  and  we  purpose  nothing 
more  than  the  reasonable  defense  of  the  undoubted  rights 
of  our  people.  We  wish  to  serve  no  selfish  ends.  We  seek 
merely  to  stand  true  alike  in  thought  and  in  action  to  the 
immemorial  principles  of  our  people  which  I  sought  to 


Meeting  Germany's  Challenge  229 

express  in  my  address  to  the  Senate  only  two  weeks  ago, — 
seek  merely  to  vindicate  our  right  to  liberty  and  justice 
and  an  unmolested  life.  These  are  the  bases  of  peace,  not 
war.  God  grant  we  may  not  be  challenged  to  defend  them 
by  acts  of  wilful  injustice  on  the  part  of  the  Government 
of  Germany! 


REQUEST  FOR  AUTHORITY 

[Address  delivered  at  a  joint  session  of  the  two  Houses  of  Congress, 
February  26,  1917.] 

GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  CONGRESS: 

I  have  again  asked  the  privilege  of  addressing  you  be 
cause  we  are  moving  through  critical  times  during  which 
it  seems  to  me  to  be  my  duty  to  keep  in  close  touch  with 

5  the  Houses  of  Congress,  so  that  neither  counsel  nor  action 
shall  run  at  cross  purposes  between  us. 

On  the  third  of  February  I  officially  informed  you  of  the 
sudden  and  unexpected  action  of  the  Imperial  German 
Government  in  declaring  its  intention  to  disregard  the 

10  promises  it  had  made  to  this  Government  in  April  last  and 
undertake  immediate  submarine  operations  against  all 
commerce,  whether  of  belligerents  or  of  neutrals,  that 
should  seek  to  approach  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  the 
Atlantic  coasts  of  Europe,  or  the  harbors  of  the  eastern 

15  Mediterranean,  and  to  conduct  those  operations  without 
regard  to  the  established  restrictions  of  international  prac 
tice,  without  regard  to  any  considerations  of  humanity 
even  which  might  interfere  with  their  object.  That  policy 
was  forthwith  put  into  practice.  It  has  now  been  in  active 

20  execution  for  nearly  four  weeks. 

Its  practical  results  are  not  yet  fully  disclosed.  The 
commerce  of  other  neutral  nations  is  suffering  severely,  but 
not,  perhaps,  very  much  more  severely  than  it  was  already 
suffering  before  the  first  of  February,  when  the  new 

25  policy  of  the  Imperial  Government  was  put  into  operation. 
We  have  asked  the  cooperation  of  the  other  neutral  govern 
ments  to  prevent  these  depredations,  but  so  far  none  of 

230 


Request  for  Authority  231 

them  has  thought  it  wise  to  join  us  in  any  common  course 
of  action.  Our  own  commerce  has  suffered,  is  suffering, 
rather  in  apprehension  than  in  fact,  rather  because  so 
many  of  our  ships  are  timidly  keeping  to  their  home  ports 
than  because  American  ships  have  been  sunk.  5 

Two  American  vessels  have  been  sunk,  the  Housatonic 
and  the  Lyman  M.  Law.  The  case  of  the  Housatonic, 
which  was  carrying  food-stuffs  consigned  to  a  London 
firm,  was  essentially  like  the  case  of  the  Fry,  in  which,  it 
will  be  recalled,  the  German  Government  admitted  its  10 
liability  for  damages,  and  the  lives  of  the  crew,  as  in  the 
case  of  the  Fry,  were  safeguarded  with  reasonable  care. 
The  case  of  the  Law,  which  was  carrying  lemon-box  staves 
to  Palermo,  disclosed  a  ruthlessness  of  method  which 
deserves  grave  condemnation,  but  was  accompanied  by  no  15 
circumstances  which  might  not  have  been  expected  at  any 
time  in  connection  with  the  use  of  the  submarine  against 
merchantmen  as  the  German  Government  has  used  it. 

In  sum,  therefore,  the  situation  we  find  ourselves  in  with 
regard  to  the  actual  conduct  of  the  German  submarine  20 
warfare  against  commerce  and  its  effects  upon  our  own 
ships  and  people  is  substantially  the  same  that  it  was  when 
I  addressed  you  on  the  third  of  February,  except  for  the 
tying  up  of  our  shipping  in  our  own  ports  because  of  the 
unwillingness  of  our  shipowners  to  risk  their  vessels  at  sea  25 
without  insurance  or  adequate  protection,  and  the  very 
serious  congestion  of  our  commerce  which  has  resulted,  a 
congestion  which  is  growing  rapidly  more  and  more  serious 
every  day.  This  in  itself  might  presently  accomplish,  in 
effect,  what  the  new  German  submarine  orders  were  30 
meant  to  accomplish,  so  far  as  we  are  concerned.  We  can 
only  say,  therefore,  that  the  overt  act  which  I  have  ven 
tured  to  hope  the  German  commanders  would  in  fact  avoid 
has  not  occurred. 


i     232  Woodrow  Wilson 

I 

But,  while  this  is  happily  true,  it  must  be  admitted  that 
there  have  been  certain  additional  indications  and  ex 
pressions  of  purpose  on  the  part  of  the  German  press  and 
the  German  authorities  which  have  increased  rather  than 
5  lessened  the  impression  that,  if  our  ships  and  our  people 
are  spared,  it  will  be  because  of  fortunate  circumstances  or 
because  the  commanders  of  the  German  submarines  which 
they  may  happen  to  encounter  exercise  an  unexpected  dis 
cretion  and  restraint  rather  than  because  of  the  instruc- 

10  tions  under  which  those  commanders  are  acting.  It  would 
be  foolish  to  deny  that  the  situation  is  fraught  with  the 
gravest  possibilities  and  dangers.  No  thoughtful  man  can 
fail  to  see  that  the  necessity  for  definite  action  may  come 
at  any  time,  if  we  are  in  fact,  and  not  in  word  merely,  to 

15  defend  our  elementary  rights  as  a  neutral  nation.  It  would 
be  most  imprudent  to  be  unprepared. 

I  cannot  in  such  circumstances  be  unmindful  of  the 
fact  that  the  expiration  of  the  term  of  the  present  Congress 
is  immediately  at  hand,  by  constitutional  limitation;  and 

20  that  it  would  in  all  likelihood  require  an  unusual  length  of 
time  to  assemble  and  organize  the  Congress  which  is  to 
succeed  it.  I  feel  that  I  ought,  in  view  of  that  fact,  to 
obtain  from  you  full  and  immediate  assurance  of  the  au 
thority  which  I  may  need  at  any  moment  to  exercise.  No 

25  doubt  I  already  possess  that  authority  without  special 
warrant  of  law,  by  the  plain  implication  of  my  constitu 
tional  duties  and  powers;  but  I  prefer,  in  the  present 
circumstances,  not  to  act  upon  general  implication.  I 
wish  to  feel  that  the  authority  and  the  power  of  the  Con- 

30  gress  are  behind  me  in  whatever  it  may  become  necessary 

for  me  to  do.    We  are  jointly  the  servants  of  the  people  and 

must  act  together  and  in  their  spirit,  so  far  as  we  can  divine 

and  interpret  it. 

No  one  doubts  what  it  is  our  duty  to  do.    We  must  de- 


Request  for  Authority  233 

fend  our  commerce  and  the  lives  of  our  people  in  the 
midst  of  the  present  trying  circumstances,  with  discretion 
but  with  clear  and  steadfast  purpose.  Only  the  method 
and  the  extent  remain  to  be  chosen,  upon  the  occasion,  if 
occasion  should  indeed  arise.  Since  it  has  unhappily  5 
proved  impossible  to  safeguard  our  neutral  rights  by 
diplomatic  means  against  the  unwarranted  infringements 
they  are  suffering  at  the  hands  of  Germany,  there  may  be 
no  recourse  but  to  armed  neutrality,  which  we  shall  know 
how  to  maintain  and  for  which  there  is  abundant  American  10 
precedent. 

It  is  devoutly  to  be  hoped  that  it  will  not  be  necessary  to 
put  armed  force  anywhere  into  action.  The  American 
people  do  not  desire  it,  and  our  desire  is  not  different  from 
theirs.  I  am  sure  that  they  will  understand  the  spirit  in  15 
which  I  am  now  acting,  the  purpose  I  hold  nearest  my 
heart  and  would  wish  to  exhibit  in  everything  I  do.  I  am 
anxious  that  the  people  of  the  nations  at  war  also  should 
understand  and  not  mistrust  us.  I  hope  that  I  need  give 
no  further  proofs  and  assurances  than  I  have  already  given  20 
throughout  nearly  three  years  of  anxious  patience  that  I 
am  the  friend  of  peace  and  mean  to  preserve  it  for  America 
so  long  as  I  am  able.  I  am  not  now  proposing  or  con 
templating  war  or  any  steps  that  need  lead  to  it.  I  merely 
request  that  you  will  accord  me  by  your  own  vote  and  25 
definite  bestowal  the  means  and  the  authority  to  safe 
guard  in  practice  the  right  of  a  great  people  who  are  at 
peace  and  who  are  desirous  of  exercising  none  but  the 
rights  of  peace  to  follow  the  pursuits  of  peace  in  quietness 
and  good  will, — rights  recognized  time  out  of  mind  by  all  30 
the  civilized  nations  of  the  world.  No  course  of  my  choos 
ing  or  of  theirs  will  lead  to  war.  War  can  come  only  by  the 
wilful  acts  and  aggressions  of  others. 

You  will  understand  why  I  can  make  no  definite  pro- 


234  Woodrow  Wilson 


posals  or  forecasts  of  action  now  and  must  ask  for  your 
supporting  authority  in  the  most  general  terms.  The  form 
in  which  action  may  become  necessary  cannot  yet  be 
foreseen.  I  believe  that  the  people  will  be  willing  to  trust 
5  me  to  act  with  restraint,  with  prudence,  and  in  the  true 
spirit  of  amity  and  good  faith  that  they  have  themselves 
displayed  throughout  these  trying  months;  and  it  is  in  that 
belief  that  I  request  that  you  will  authorize  me  to  supply 
our  merchant  ships  with  defensive  arms,  should  that  be- 

10  come  necessary,  and  with  the  means  of  using  them,  and  to 
employ  any  other  instrumentalities  or  methods  that  may 
be  necessary  and  adequate  to  protect  our  ships  and  our 
people  in  their  legitimate  and  peaceful  pursuits  on  the 
seas.  I  request  also  that  you  will  grant  me  at  the  same 

15  time,  along  with  the  powers  I  ask,  a  sufficient  credit  to 
enable  me  to  provide  adequate  means  of  protection  where 
they  are  lacking,  including  adequate  insurance  against 
the  present  war  risks. 

I  have  spoken  of  our  commerce  and  of  the  legitimate  er- 

20  rands  of  our  people  on  the  seas,  but  you  will  not  be  misled 
as  to  my  main  thought,  the  thought  that  lies  beneath 
these  phrases  and  gives  them  dignity  and  weight.  It  is  not 
of  material  interests  merely  that  we  are  thinking.  It  is, 
rather,  of  fundamental  human  rights,  chief  of  all  the  right 

25  of  life  itself.  I  am  thinking,  not  only  of  the  rights  of 
Americans  to  go  and  come  about  their  proper  business  by 
way  of  the  sea,  but  also  of  something  much  deeper,  much 
more  fundamental  than  that.  I  am  thinking  of  those 
rights  of  humanity  without  which  there  is  no  civilization. 

30  My  theme  is  of  those  great  principles  of  compassion  and  of 
protection  which  mankind  has  sought  to  throw  about 
human  lives,  the  lives  of  non-combatants,  the  lives  of  men 
who  are  peacefully  at  work  keeping  the  industrial  processes 
of  the  world  quick  and  vital,  the  lives  of  women  and 


Request  for  Authority  235 

children  and  of  those  who  supply  the  labor  which  ministers 
to  their  sustenance.  We  are  speaking  of  no  selfish  material 
rights  but  of  rights  which  our  hearts  support  and  whose 
foundation  is  that  righteous  passion  for  justice  upon  which 
all  law,  all  structures  alike  of  family,  of  state,  and  of  man 
kind  must  rest,  as  upon  the  ultimate  base  of  our  existence 
and  our  liberty.  I  cannot  imagine  any  man  with  American 
principles  at  his  heart  hesitating  to  defend  these  things. 


SECOND  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS 

[Washington,  March  4,  1917.] 

MY  FELLOW-CITIZENS: 

The  four  years  which  have  elapsed  since  last  I  stood  in 
this  place  have  been  crowded  with  counsel  and  action  of 
the  most  vital  interest  and  consequence.  Perhaps  no 

5  equal  period  in  our  history  has  been  so  fruitful  of  impor 
tant  reforms  in  our  economic  and  industrial  life  or  so  full 
of  significant  changes  in  the  spirit  and  purpose  of  our 
political  action.  We  have  sought  very  thoughtfully  to 
set  our  house  in  order,  correct  the  grosser  errors  and  abuses 

10  of  our  industrial  life,  liberate  and  quicken  the  processes 
of  our  national  genius  and  energy,  and  lift  our  politics  to 
a  broader  view  of  the  people's  essential  interests.  It  is  a 
record  of  singular  variety  and  singular  distinction.  But 
I  shall  not  attempt  to  review  it.  It  speaks  for  itself  and 

15  will  be  of  increasing  influence  as  the  years  go  by.    This  is 

not  the  time  for  retrospect.    It  is  time,  rather,  to  speak 

our  thoughts  and  purposes  concerning  the  present  and  the 

immediate  future. 

Although  we  have  centered  counsel  and  action  with 

20  such  unusual  concentration  and  success  upon  the  great 
problems  of  domestic  legislation  to  which  we  addressed 
ourselves  four  years  ago,  other  matters  have  more  and 
more  forced  themselves  upon  our  attention,  matters  lying 
outside  our  own  life  as  a  nation  and  over  which  we  had 

25  no  control,  but  which,  despite  our  wish  to  keep  free  of 
them,  have  drawn  us  more  and  more  irresistibly  into 
their  own  current  and  influence. 

It  has  been  impossible  to  avoid  them.    They  have  af- 
236 


Second  Inaugural  Address  237 

fected  the  life  of  the  whole  world.  They  have  shaken 
men  everywhere  with  a  passion  and  an  apprehension  they 
never  knew  before.  It  has  been  hard  to  preserve  calm 
counsel  while  the  thought  of  our  own  people  swayed  this 
way  and  that  under  their  influence.  We  are  a  composite  5 
and  cosmopolitan  people.  We  are  of  the  blood  of  all  the 
nations  that  are  at  war.  The  currents  of  our  thoughts  as 
well  as  the  currents  of  our  trade  run  quick  at  all  seasons 
back  and  forth  between  us  and  them.  The  war  inevitably 
set  its  mark  from  the  first  alike  upon  our  minds,  our  in-  10 
dustries,  our  commerce,  our  politics,  and  our  social  action. 
To  be  indifferent  to  it  or  independent  of  it  was  out  of  the 
question. 

And  yet  all  the  while  we  have  been  conscious  that  we 
were  not  part  of  it.  In  that  consciousness,  despite  many  15 
divisions,  we  have  drawn  closer  together.  We  have  been 
deeply  wronged  upon  the  seas,  but  we  have  not  wished  to 
wrong  or  injure  in  return;  have  retained  throughout  the 
consciousness  of  standing  in  some  sort  apart,  intent  upon 
an  interest  that  transcended  the  immediate  issues  of  the  20 
war  itself.  As  some  of  the  injuries  done  us  have  become 
intolerable  we  have  still  been  clear  that  we  wished  noth 
ing  for  ourselves  that  we  were  not  ready  to  demand  for  all 
mankind, — fair  dealing,  justice,  the  freedom  to  live  and 
be  at  ease  against  organized  wrong. 

It  is  in  this  spirit  and  with  this  thought  that  we  have 
grown  more  and  more  aware,  more  and  more  certain  that 
the  part  we  wished  to  play  was  the  part  of  those  who  mean 
to  vindicate  and  fortify  peace.  We  have  been  obliged  to 
arm  ourselves  to  make  good  our  claim  to  a  certain  mini-  30 
mum  of  right  and  of  freedom  of  action.  We  stand  firm 
in  armed  neutrality  since  it  seems  that  in  no  other  way 
we  can  demonstrate  what  it  is  we  insist  upon  and  cannot 
forego.  We  may  even  be  drawn  on,  by  circumstances,  not 


238  Woodrow  Wilson 

by  our  own  purpose  or  desire,  to  a  more  active  assertion 
of  our  rights  as  we  see  them  and  a  more  immediate  asso 
ciation  with  the  great  struggle  itself.  But  nothing  will 
alter  our  thought  or  our  purpose.  They  are  too  clear  to 

5  be  obscured.  They  are  too  deeply  rooted  in  the  principles 
of  our  national  life  to  be  altered.  We  desire  neither  con 
quest  nor  advantage.  We  wish  nothing  that  can  be  had 
only  at  the  cost  of  another  people.  We  have  always  pro 
fessed  unselfish  purpose  and  we  covet  the  opportunity  to 

10  prove  that  our  professions  are  sincere. 

There  are  many  things  still  to  do  at  home,  to  clarify 
our  own  politics  and  give  new  vitality  to  the  industrial 
processes  of  our  owrn  life,  and  we  shall  do  them  as  time 
and  opportunity  serve;  but/we  realize  that  the  greatest 
things  that  remain  to  be  oone  must  be  done  with  the 
whole  world  for  stage  and  in  cooperation  with  the  wide 
and  universal  forces  of  mankind,  and  we  are  making  our 
spirits  ready  for  those  things.  They  will  follow  in  the 
immediate  wake  of  the  war  itself  and  will  set  civilization 

20  up  again.  We  are  provincials  no  longer.  The  tragical 
events  of  the  thirty  months  of  vital  turmoil  through  which 
we  have  just  passed  have  made  us  citizens  of  the  world. 
There  can  be  no  turning  back.  Our  own  fortunes  as  a 
nation  are  involved,  whether  we  would  have  it  so  or 

25  not. 

And  yet  we  are  not  the  less  Americans  on  that  account. 
We  shall  be  the  more  American  if  we  but  remain  true  to 
the  principles  in  which  we  have  been  bred.  They  are  not 
the  principles  of  a  province  or  of  a  single  continent.  We 

30  have  known  and  boasted  all  along  that  they  were  the 
principles  of  a  liberated  mankind.  These,  therefore,  are 
the  things  we  shall  stand  for,  whether  in  war  or  in 
peace: 

That  all  nations  are  equally  interested  in  the  peace  of 


o/ 

Second  Inaugural  Address  239 

the  world  and  in  the  political  stability  of  free  peoples,  and 
equally  responsible  for  their  maintenance; 

That  the  essential  principle  of  peace  is  the  actual  equal 
ity  of  nations  in  all  matters  of  right  or  privilege; 

That  peace  cannot  securely  or  justly  rest  upon  an  armed    5 
balance  of  power; 

That  governments  derive  all  their  just  powers  from  the 
consent  of  the  governed  and  that  no  other  powers  should 
be  supported  by  the  common  thought,  purpose,  or  power 
of  the  family  of  nations.  10 

That  the  seas  should  be  equally  free  and  safe  for  the  use 
of  all  peoples,  under  rules  set  up  by  common  agreement 
and  consent,  and  that,  so  far  as  practicable,  they  should 
be  accessible  to  all  upon  equal  terms; 

That  national   armaments   should   be   limited   to   the  15 
necessities  of  national  order  and  domestic  safety; 

That  the  community  of  interest  and  of  power  upon 
which  peace  must  henceforth  depend  imposes  upon  each 
nation  the  duty  of  seeing  to  it  that  all  influences  proceed 
ing  from  its  own  citizens  meant  to  encourage  or  assist  20 
revolution  in  other  states  should  be  sternly  and  effectually 
suppressed  and  prevented. 

I  need  not  argue  these  principles  to  you,  my  fellow- 
countrymen:  they  are  your  own,  part  and  parcel  of  your 
own  thinking  and  your  own  motive  in  affairs.    They  spring  25 
up  native  amongst  us.    Upon  this  as  a  platform  of  purpose 
and  of  action  we  can  stand  together. 

And  it  is  imperative  that  we  should  stand  together. 
We  are  being  forged  into  a  new  unity  amidst  the  fires  that 
now  blaze  throughout  the  world.  In  their  ardent  heat  30 
we  shall,  in  God's  providence,  let  us  hope,  be  purged  of 
faction  and  division,  purified  of  the  errant  humors  of 
party  and  of  private  interest,  and  shall  stand  forth  in  the 
days  to  come  with  a  new  dignity  of  national  pride  and 


240  Woodrow  Wilson 

spirit.  Let  each  man  see  to  it  that  the  dedication  is  in 
his  own  heart,  the  high  purpose  of  the  Nation  in  his  own 
mind,  ruler  of  his  own  will  and  desire. 

I  stand  here  and  have  taken  the  high  and  solemn  oath 
5  to  which  you  have  been  audience  because  the  people  of 
the  United  States  have  chosen  me  for  this  august  delega 
tion  of  power  and  have  by  their  gracious  judgment  named 
me  their  leader  in  affairs.  I  know  now  what  the  task 
means.  I  realize  to  the  full  the  responsibility  which  it 

10  involves.  I  pray  God  I  may  be  given  the  wisdom  and 
the  prudence  to  do  my  duty  in  the  true  spirit  of  this  great 
people.  I  am  their  servant  and  can  succeed  only  as  they 
sustain  and  guide  me  by  their  confidence  and  their  counsel. 
The  thing  I  shall  count  upon,  the  thing  without  which 

15  neither  counsel  nor  action  will  avail,  is  the  unity  of  Amer- 

;  ica, — an  America  united  in  feeling,  in  purpose,  and  in  its 

vision  of  duty,  of  opportunity,  and  of  service.    We  are  to 

beware  of  all  men  who  would  turn  the  tasks  and  the 

*      necessities  of  the  Nation  to  their  own  private  profit  or 

20  use  them  for  the  building  up  of  private  power;  beware 
that  no  faction  or  disloyal  intrigue  break  the  harmony  or 
embarrass  the  spirit  of  our  people;  beware  that  our  Gov 
ernment  be  kept  pure  and  incorrupt  in  all  its  parts.  United 
alike  in  the  conception  of  our  duty  and  in  the  high  resolve 

25  to  perform  it  in  the  face  of  all  men,  let  us  dedicate  our 
selves  to  the  great  task  to  which  we  must  now  set  our 
hand.  For  myself  I  beg  your  tolerance,  your  countenance, 
and  your  united  aid.  The  shadows  that  now  lie  dark 
upon  our  path  will  soon  be  dispelled  and  we  shall  walk 

30  with  the  light  all  about  us  if  we  be  but  true  to  ourselves, — 
to  ourselves  as  we  have  wished  to  be  known  in  the  coun 
sels  of  the  world  and  in  the  thought  of  all  those  who  love 
liberty  and  justice  and  the  right  exalted. 


THE  CALL  TO  WAR 

[Address  delivered  at  a  joint  session  of  the  two  Houses  of  Congress, 
April  2,  1917.] 

GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  CONGRESS: 

I  have  called  the  Congress  into  extraordinary  session 
because  there  are  serious,  very  serious,  choices  of  policy  to 
be  made,  and  made  immediately,  which  it  was  neither 
right  nor  constitutionally  permissible  that  I  should  assume    5 
the  responsibility  of  making. 

On  the  third  of  February  last  I  officially  laid  before  you 
the  extraordinary  announcement  of  the  Imperial  German 
Government  that  on  and  after  the  first  day  of  February  it 
was  its  purpose  to  put  aside  all  restraints  of  law  or  of  I0 
humanity  and  use  its  submarines  to  sink  every  vessel  that 
sought  to  approach  either  the  ports  of  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland  or  the  western  coasts  of  Europe  or  any  of  the  ports 
controlled  by  the  enemies  of  Germany  within  the  Mediter 
ranean.  That  had  seemed  to  be  the  object  of  the  German  15 
submarine  warfare  earlier  in  the  war,  but  since  April  of 
last  year  the  Imperial  Government  had  somewhat  re 
strained  the  commanders  of  its  undersea  craft  in  con 
formity  with  its  promise  then  given  to  us  that  passenger 
boats  should  not  be  sunk  and  that  due  warning  would  be  20 
given  to  all  other  vessels  which  its  submarines  might  seek 
to  destroy,  when  no  resistance  was  offered  or  escape  at 
tempted,  and  care  taken  that  their  crews  were  given  at 
least  a  fair  chance  to  save  their  lives  in  their  open  boats. 
The  precautions  taken  were  meager  and  haphazard  enough,  25 
as  was  proved  in  distressing  instance  after  instance  in  the 
progress  of  the  cruel  and  unmanly  business,  but  a  certain 

241 


242  Woodrow  Wilson 

degree  of  restraint  was  observed.  The  new  policy  has 
swept  every  restriction  aside.  Vessels  of  every  kind,  what 
ever  their  flag,  their  character,  their  cargo,  their  destina 
tion,  their  errand,  have  been  ruthlessly  sent  to  the  bottom 

5  without  warning  and  without  thought  of  help  or  mercy  for 
those  on  board,  the  vessels  of  friendly  neutrals  along  with 
those  of  belligerents.  Even  hospital  ships  and  ships  carry 
ing  relief  to  the  sorely  bereaved  and  stricken  people  of 
Belgium,  though  the  latter  were  provided  with  safe 

10  conduct  through   the  proscribed  areas  by  the   German 
Government   itself    and   were   distinguished   by   unmis 
takable  marks  of  identity,  have  been  sunk  with  the  same 
reckless  lack  of  compassion  or  of  principle. 
I  was  for  a  little  while  unable  to  believe  that  such  things 

15  would  in  fact  be  done  by  any  government  that  had  hitherto 
subscribed  to  the  humane  practices  of  civilized  nations. 
International  law  had  its  origin  in  the  attempt  to  set  up 
some  law  which  would  be  respected  and  observed  upon 
the  seas,  where  no  nation  had  right  of  dominion  and  where 

20  lay  the  free  highways  of  the  world.  By  painful  stage  after 
stage  has  that  law  been  built  up,  with  meager  enough 
results,  indeed,  after  all  was  accomplished  that  could  be 
accomplished,  but  always  with  a  clear  view,  at  least,  of 
what  the  heart  and  conscience  of  mankind  demanded. 

25  This  minimum  of  right  the  German  Government  has 
swept  aside  under  the  plea- of  retaliation  and  necessity  afid 
because  it  had  no  weapons  which  it  could  use  at  sea  except 
these  which  it  is  impossible  to  employ  as  it  is  employing 
them  without  throwing  to  the  winds  all  scruples  of  hu- 

30  manity  or  of  respect  for  the  understandings  that  were  sup 
posed  to  underlie  the  intercourse  of  the  world.  I  am  not 
now  thinking  of  the  loss  of  property  involved,  immense  and 
serious  as  that  is,  but  only  of  the  wanton  and  wholesale 
destruction  of  the  lives  of  non-combatants,  men,  women, 


The  Call  to  War 

and  children,  engaged  in  pursuits  which  have  always,  even 
in  the  darkest  periods  of  modern  history,  been  deemed 
innocent  and  legitimate.  Property  can  be  paid  for;  the 
lives  of  peaceful  and  innocent  people  cannot  be.  The 
present  German  submarine  warfare  against  commerce  is  a  5 
warfare  against  mankincT. 

It  is  a  war  against  all  nations.  American  ships  have 
been  sunk,  American  lives  taken,  in  ways  which  it  has 
stirred  us  very  deeply  to  learn  of,  but  the  ships  and  people 
of  other  neutral  and  friendly  nations  have  been  sunk  and  10 
overwhelmed  in  the  waters  in  the  same  way.  There  has 
been  no  discrimination.  The  challenge  is  to  all  mankind. 
Each  nation  must  decide  for  itself  how  it  will  meet  it. 
The  choice  we  make  for  ourselves  must  be  made  with  a 
moderation  of  counsel  and  a  tempera teness  of  judgment  15 
befitting  our  character  and  our  motives  as  a  nation.  We 
must  put  excited  feeling  away.  Our  motive  will  not  be 
revenge  or  the  victorious  assertion  of  the  physical  might 
of  the  nation,  but  only  the  vindication  of  right,  of  human 
right,  of  which  we  are  only  a  single  champion.  20 , 

When  I  addressed  the  Congress  on  the  twenty-sixth  of 
February  last  I  thought  that  it  would  suffice  to  assert  our 
neutral  rights  with  arms,  our  right  to  use  the  seas  against 
unlawful  interference,  our  right  to  keep  our  people  safe 
against  unlawful  violence.  But  armed  neutrality,  it  now  25 
appears,  is  impracticable.  Because  submarines  are  in 
effect  outlaws  when  used  as  the  German  submarines  have 
been  used  against  merchant  shipping,  it  is  impossible  to 
defend  ships  against  their  attacks  as  the  law  of  nations 
has  assumed  that  merchantmen  would  defend  themselves  30 
against  privateers  or  cruisers,  visible  craft  giving  chase 
upon  the  open  sea.  It  is  common  prudence  in  such  cir 
cumstances,  grim  necessity  indeed,  to  endeavor  to  destroy 
them  before  they  have  shown  their  own  intention.  They 

b'*t*    ^   rttM 
*.     *     i 


U 


244  Wood  row  Wilson 

*/     AA  **-*A       "^A^Ol 

~"must  be  dealt  with  upon  sight,  if  dealt  with  at  all.  The 
German  Government  denies  the  right  of  neutrals  to  use 
arms  at  all  within  the  areas  of  the  sea  which  it  has  pro 
scribed,  even  in  the  defense  of  rights  which  no  modern 
5  publicist  has  ever  before  questioned  their  right  to  defend. 
The  intimation  is  conveyed  that  the  armed  guards  which 
we  have  placed  on  our  merchant  ships  will  be  treated  as 
beyond  the  pale  of  law  and  subject  to  be  dealt  with  as 
pirates  would  be.  Armed  neutrality  is  ineffectual  enough 

10  at  best;  in  such  circumstances  and  in  the  face  of  such 
pretensions  it  is  worse  than  ineffectual:  it  is  likely  only  to 
produce  what  it  was  meant  to  prevent;  it  is  practically 
certain  to  draw  us  into  the  war  without  either  the  rights  or 
the  effectiveness  of  belligerents.  There  is  one  choice  we 

15  cannot  make,  we  are  incapable  of  making:  we  will  not 
choose  the  path  of  submission  and  suffer  the  most  sacred 
rights  of  our  nation  and  our  people  to  be  ignored  or  vio 
lated.  The  wrongs  against  which  we  now  array  ourselves 
are  no  common  wrongs;  they  cut  to  the  very  roots  of 
human  life. 

With  a  profound  sense  of  the  solemn  and  even  tragical 
character  of  the  step  I  am  taking  and  of  the  grave  re 
sponsibilities  which  it  involves,  but  in  unhesitating  obe 
dience  to  what  I  deem  my  constitutional  duty,  I  advise 

25  that  the  Congress  declare  the  recent  course  of  the  Imperial 
German  Government  to  be  in  fact  nothing  less  than  war 
against  the  government  and  people  of  the  United  States; 
that  it  formally  accept  the  status  of  belligerent  which  has 
thus  been  thrust  upon  it;  and  that  it  take  immediate  steps 

30  not  only  to  put  the  country  in  a  more  thorough  state  of 
defense  but  also  to  exert  all  its  power  and  employ  all  its 
resources  to  bring  the  Government  of  the  German  Empire 
to  terms  and  end  the  war. 
What  this  will  involve  is  clear.    It  will  involve  the  ut- 


The  Call  to  War  245 

most  practicable  cooperation  in  counsel  and  action  with 
the  governments  now  at  war  with  Germany,  and,  as  inci 
dent  to  that,  the  extension  to  those  governments  of  the 
most  liberal  financial  credits,  in  order  that  our  resources 
may  so  far  as  possible  be  added  to  theirs.  It  will  involve  5 
the  organization  and  mobilization  of  all  the  material  re 
sources  of  the  country  to  supply  the  materials  of  war  and 
serve  the  incidental  needs  of  the  nation  in  the  most 
abundant  and  yet  the  most  economical  and  efficient  way 
possible.  It  will  involve  the  immediate  full  equipment  of  10 
the  navy  in  all  respects  but  particularly  in  supplying  it 
with  the  best  means  of  dealing  with  the  enemy's  sub 
marines.  It  will  involve  the  immediate  addition  to  the 
armed  forces  of  the  United  States  already  provided  for  by 
law  in  case  of  war  at  least  500,000  men,  who  should,  in  my  15 
opinion,  be  chosen  upon  the  principle  of  universal  liability 
to  service,  and  also  the  authorization  of  subsequent  addi 
tional  increments  of  equal  force  so  soon  as  they  may  be 
needed  and  can  be  handled  in  training.  It  will  involve 
also,  of  course,  the  granting  of  adequate  credits  to  the  20 
Government,  sustained,  I  hope,  so  far  as  they  can  equita 
bly  be  sustained  by  the  present  generation,  by  well  con 
ceived  taxation. 

I  say  sustained  so  far  as  may  be  equitable  by  taxation 
because  it  seems  to  me  that  it  would  be  most  unwise  to  base  25 
the  credits  which  will  now  be  necessary  entirely  on  money 
borrowed.     It  is  our  duty,  I  most  respectfully  urge,  to 
protect  our  people  so  far  as  we  may  against  the  very 
serious  hardships  and  evils  which  would  be  likely  to  arise 
out  of  the  inflation  which  would  be  produced  by  vast  30 
loans. 

In  carrying  out  the  measures  by  which  these  things  are 
to  be  accomplished  we  should  keep  constantly  in  mind  the 
wisdom  of  interfering  as  little  as-  possible  in  our  own 


Woodrow  Wilson 


preparation  and  in  the  equipment  of  our  own  military 
forces  with  the  duty, — for  it  will  be  a  very  practical  duty, — • 
of  supplying  the  nations  already  at  war  with  Germany 
with  the  materials  which  they  can  obtain  only  from  us  or 
5  by  our  assistance.  They  are  in  the  field  and  we  should 
help  them  in  every  way  to  be  effective  there. 

I  shall  take  the  liberty  of  suggesting,  through  the 
several  executive  departments  of  the  Government,  for  the 
consideration  of  your  committees,  measures  for  the  ac- 

10  complishment  of  the  several  objects  I  have  mentioned.  I 
hope  that  it  will  be  your  pleasure  to  deal  with  them  as 
having  been  framed  after  very  careful  thought  by  the 
branch  of  the  Government  upon  which  the  responsibility  of 
conducting  the  war  and  safeguarding  the  nation  will  most 

15  directly  fall. 

While  we  do  these  things,   these  deeply  momentous 

things,  let  us  be  very  clear,  and  make  very  clear  to  all  the 

•  world  what  our  motives  and  our  objects  are.     My  own 

%  thought  has  not  been  driven  from  its  habitual  and  normal 

20  course  by  the  unhappy  events  of  the  last  two  months,  and 
I  do  not  believe  that  the  thought  of  the  nation  has  been 
altered  or  clouded  by  them.  I  have  exactly  the  same 
things  in  mind  now  that  I  had  in  mind  when  I  addressed 
the  Senate  on  the  twenty-second  of  January  last;  the  same 

25  that  I  had  in  mind  when  I  addressed  the  Congress  on  the 
third  of  February  and  on  the  twenty-sixth  of  February. 
Our  object  now,  as  then,  is  to  vindicate  the  principles  of 
peace  and  justice  in  the  life  of  the  world  as  against  selfish 
and  autocratic  power  and  to  set  up  amongst  the  really  free 

30  and  self-governed  peoples  of  the  world  such  a  concert  of 
purpose  and  of  action  as  will  henceforth  ensure  the  ob 
servance  of  those  principles.  Neutrality  is  no  longer 
feasible  or  desirable  where  the  peace  of  the  world  is  in 
volved  and  the  freedom  of  its  peoples,  and  the  menace  to 


c# 


The  Call  to  War  247 

that  peace  and  freedom  lies  in  the  existence  of  autocratic 
governments  backed  by  organized  force  which  is  controlled 
wholly  by  their  will,  not  by  the  will  of  their  people.    We 
have  seen  the  last  of  neutrality  in  such  circumstances.    We ,. 
are  at  the  beginning  of  an  age  in  which  it  will  be  insisted    5 
that  the  same  standards  of  conduct  and  of  responsibility 
for  wrong  done  shall  be  observed  among  nations  and  their 
governments    that   are   observed   among   the   individual 
citizens  of  civilized  states. 

We  have  no  quarrel  with  the  German  people.    We  have  10 
no  feeling  towards  them  but  one  of  sympathy  and  friend 
ship.    It  was  not  upon  their  impulse  that  their  govern 
ment  acted  in  entering  this  war.    It  was  not  with  their 
previous  knowledge  or  approval.     It  was  a  war  deter 
mined  upon  as  wars  used  to  be  determined  upon  in  the  15 
old,  unhappy  days  when  peoples  were  nowhere  consulted 
by  their  rulers  and  wars  were  provoked  and  waged  in 
the  interest  of  dynasties  or  of  little  groups  of  ambitious 
men  who  were  accustomed  to  use  their  fellow-men  as 
pawns  and  tools.     Self-governed  nations  do  not  fill  their  20' 
neighbor  states  with  spies  or  set  the  course  of  intrigue  to 
bring  about  some  critical  posture  of  affairs  which  will 
give  them  an  opportunity  to  strike  and  make  conquest. 
Such  designs  can  be  successfully  worked  out  only  under 
cover  and  where  no  one  has  the  right  to  ask  questions.  25 
Cunningly  contrived  plans  of  deception  or  aggression, 
carried,  it  may  be,  from  generation  to  generation,  can  be 
worked  out  and  kept  from  the  light  only  within  the  privacy 
of  courts  or  behind  the  carefully  guarded  confidences  of  a 
narrow  and  privileged  class.    They  are  happily  impossible  30 
where  public  opinion  commands  and  insists  upon  full  in 
formation  concerning  all  the  nation's  affairs. 

A  steadfast  concert  for  peace  can  never  be  maintained 
'>y  a  partnership  ot  democratic  nations.    No  auto- 


h 


H 


rfCt^u/     $   Mt*4*, 

248  Woodrow  Wilson 


cratic  government  could  be  trusted  to  keep  faith  within 
it  or  observe  its  covenants.    It  must  be  a  league  of  honor, 
,  a  partnership  of  opinion.     Intrigue  would  eat  its  vitals 

away;  the  plottings  of  inner  circles  who  could  plan  what 
5  they  would  and  render  account  to  no  one  would  be  a  cor 
ruption  seated  at  its  very  heart.  Only  free  peoples  can 
hold  their  purpose  and  their  honor  steady  to  a  common  _ 
end  and  prefer  the  interests  of  mankind  to  any  narrow 
interest  of  their  own.  ?  • 

to  Does  not  every  American  feel  that  assurance  has  been 
added  to  our  hope  for  the  future  peace  of  the  world  by 
the  wonderful  and  heartening  things  that  have  been  hap 
pening  within  the  last  few  weeks  in  Russia?  Russia  was 
known  by  those  who  knew  it  best  to  have  been  always  in 

15  fact  democratic  at  heart,  in  all  the  vital  habits  of  her 
thought,  in  all  the  intimate  relationships  of  her  people 
that  spoke  their  natural  instinct,  their  habitual  attitude 
towards  life.  The  autocracy  that  crowned  the  summit 
of  her  political  structure,  long  as  it  had  stood  and  terrible 

20  as  was  the  reality  of  its  power,  was  not  in  fact  Russian 
in  origin,  character,  or  purpose;  and  now  it  has  been 
shaken  off  and  the  great,  generous  Russian  people  have 
been  added  in  all  their  naive  majesty  and  might  to  the 
forces  that  are  fighting  for  freedom  in  the  world,  for  jus- 

25  tice,  and  for  peace.  Here  is  a  fit  partner  for  a  League  of 
Honor. 

One  of  the  things  that  has  served  to  convince  us  that 
the  Prussian  autocracy  was  not  and  could  never  be  our 
friend  is  that  from  the  very  outset  of  the  present  war  it 

30  has  filled  our  unsuspecting  communities  and  even  our 
offices  of  government  with  spies  and  set  criminal  intrigues 
everywhere  afoot  against  our  national  unity  of  counsel, 
our  peace  within  and  without,  our  industries  and  our  com 
merce.  Indeed  it  is  now  evident  that  its  spies  were  here 


The  Call  to  War  249 

even  before  the  war  began;  and  it  is  unhappily  not  a 
matter  of  conjecture  but  a  fact  proved  in  our  courts  of 
justice  that  the  intrigues  which  have  more  than  once  come 
perilously  near  to  disturbing  the  peace  and  dislocating 
the  industries  of  the  country  have  been  carried  on  at  the    5 
instigation,  with  the  support,  and  even  under  the  personal 
direction  of  official  agents  of  the  Imperial  Government 
accredited  to  the  Government  of  the  United  States.    Even 
in  checking  these  things  and  trying  to  extirpate  them  we 
have  sought  to  put  the  most  generous  interpretation  pos-  10 
sible  upon  them  because  we  knew  that  their  source  lay, 
not  in  any  hostile  feeling  or  purpose  of  the  German  people 
towards  us  (who  were,  no  doubt  as  ignorant  of  them  as  we 
ourselves  were),  but  only  in  the  selfish  designs  of  a  Gov 
ernment  that  did  what  it  pleased  and  told  its  people  noth-  15 
ing.    But  they  have  played  their  part  in  serving  to  con 
vince  us  at  last  that  that  Government  entertains  no  real 
friendship  for  us  and  means  to  act  against  our  peace  and 
security  at  its  convenience.    That  it  means  to  stir  up  ene 
mies  against  us  at  our  very  doors  the  intercepted  note  to  20 
the  German  Minister  at  Mexico  City  is  eloquent  evidence. 
We  are  accepting  this  challenge  of  hostile  purpose  be 
cause  we  know  that  in  such  a  government,  following  such 
methods,  we  can  never  have  a  friend;  and  that  in  the 
presence  of  its  organized  power,  always  lying  in  wait  to  25 
accomplish  we  know  not  what  purpose,  there  can  be  no 
assured  security  for  the  democratic  governments  of  the 
world.    We  are  now  about  to  accept  gauge  of  battle  with 
this  natural  foe  to  liberty  and  shall,  if  necessary,  spend  the 
whole  force  of  the  nation  to  check  and  nullify  its  preten-  30 
sions  and  its  power.    We  are  glad,  now  that  we  see  the 
facts  with  no  veil  of  false  pretense  about  them,  to  fight  thus, 
for  the  ultimate  peace  of  the  world  and  for  the  liberation 
of  its  peoples,  the  German  peoples  included:  for  the  rights 

f^  tU  uJvi'^tk  n^^u.  1 

/  JL.    J.     l/;..j     ' 


/**      HM/t*    /  wwvvi^c?  yu/*'   «A* 


.... 

250  Woodrow  Wilson 

a&t    M0u   ^U*)   y  {U.L  Qj^ei  oj     M/^oxlAXX. 

of  nations  great  and  small  and  the  privilege  of  men  every 
where  to  choose  their  way  of  life  and  of  obedience.  The 
world  must  be  made  safe  for  democracy.  Its  peace  must 

1  be  planted  upon  the  tested  foundations  of  political  liberty. 
5  We  have  no  selfish  ends  to  serve.  We  desire  no  conquest, 
no  dominion.  We  seek  no  indemnities  for  ourselves,  no 
material  compensation  for  the  sacrifices  we  shall  freely 
make.  We  are  but  one  of  the  champions  of  the  rights  of 
mankind.  We  shall  be  satisfied  when  those  rights  have 

10  been  made  as  secure  as  the  faith  and  the  freedom  of  na 
tions  can  make  them. 

Just  because  we  fight  without  rancor  and  without  selfish 
object,  seeking  nothing  for  ourselves  but  what  we  shall 
wish  to  share  with  all  free  peoples,  we  shall,  I  feel  con- 

15  fident,  conduct  our  operations  as  belligerents  without  pas 

sion  and  ourselves  observe  with  proud  punctilio  the  prin 

ciples  of  right  and  of  fair  play  we  profess  to  be  fighting  for. 

I  have  said  nothing  of  the  governments  allied  with  the 

Imperial  Government  of  Germany  because  they  have  not 

20  made  war  upon  us  or  challenged  us  to  defend  our  right  and 
our  honor.  The  Austro-Hungarian  Government  has,  in 
deed,  avowed  its  unqualified  endorsement  and  acceptance 
of  the  reckless  and  lawless  submarine  warfare  adopted 
now  without  disguise  by  the  Imperial  German  Govern- 

25  ment,  and  it  has  therefore  not  been  possible  for  this  Gov 
ernment  to  receive  Count  Tarnowski,  the  Ambassador 
recently  accredited  to  this  Government  by  the  Imperial 
and  Royal  Government  of  Austria-Hungary;  but  that 
Government  has  not  actually  engaged  in  warfare  against 

30  citizens  of  the  United  States  on  the  seas,  and  I  take  the 
liberty,  for  the  present  at  least,  of  postponing  a  discussion 
of  our  relations  with  the  authorities  at  Vienna.  We  enter 
this  war  only  where  we  are  clearly  forced  into  it  because 
there  are  no  other  means  of  defending  our  rights. 


The  Call  to  War  251 

It  will  be  all  the  easier  for  us  to  conduct  ourselves  as 
belligerents  in  a  high  spirit  of  right  and  fairness  because 
we  act  without  animus,  not  in  enmity  towards  a  people 
or  with  the  desire  to  bring  any  injury  or  disadvantage 
upon  them,  but  only  in  armed  opposition  to  an  irrespon-  5 
sible  government  which  has  thrown  aside  all  considera 
tions  of  humanity  and  of  right  and  is  running  amuck. 
We  are,  let  me  say  again,  the  sincere  friends  of  the  Ger 
man  people,  and  shall  desire  nothing  so  much  as  the  early 
reestablishment  of  intimate  relations  of  mutual  advan-  T0 
tage  between  us, — however  hard  it  may  be  for  them,  for 
the  time  being,  to  believe  that  this  is  spoken  from  our 
hearts.  We  have  borne  with  their  present  government 
through  all  these  bitter  months  because  of  that  friend 
ship, — exercising  a  patience  and  forbearance  which  would  15 
otherwise  have  been  impossible.  We  shall,  happily,  still 
have  an  opportunity  to  prove  that  friendship  in  our  daily 
attitude  and  actions  towards  the  millions  of  men  and 
women  of  German  birth  and  native  sympathy  who  live 
amongst  us  and  share  our  life,  and  we  shall  be  proud  to  20 
prove  it  towards  all  who  are  in  fact  loyal  to  their  neighbors 
and  to  the  Government  in  the  hour  of  test.  They  are, 
most  of  them,  as  true  and  loyal  Americans  as  if  they  had 
never  known  any  other  fealty  or  allegiance.  They  will 
be  prompt  to  stand  with  us  in  rebuking  and  restraining  25 
the  few  who  may  be  of  a  different  mind  and  purpose.  If 
there  should  be  disloyalty,  it  will  be  dealt  with  with  a  firm 
hand  of  stern  repression;  but,  if  it  lifts  its  head  at  all,  it 
will  lift  it  only  here  and  there  and  without  countenance 
except  from  a  lawless  and  malignant  few.  30 

It  is  a  distressing  and  oppressive  duty,  Gentlemen  of 
the  Congress,  which  I  have  performed  in  thus  addressing 
you.  There  are,  it  may  be,  many  months  of  fiery  trial 
and  sacrifice  ahead  of  us,  It  is  a  fearful  thing  to  lead  this 


Woodrow  Wilson 

great  peaceful  people  into  war,  into  the  most  terrible  and 
disastrous  of  all  wars,  civilization  itself  seeming  to  be  in 
the  balance.  But  the  right  is  more  precious  than  peace, 
and  we  shall  fight  for  the  things  which  we  have  always 

5  carried  nearest  our  hearts,— for  democracy,  for  the  right 
of  those  who  submit' to  authority  to  have  a  voice  in  their 
own  governments,  for  the  rights  and  liberties  of  small 
nations,  for  a  universal  dominion  of  right  by  such  a  con 
cert  of  free  peoples  as  shall  bring  peace  and  safety  to  all 

10  nations  and  make  the  world  itself  at  last  free.  To  such  a 
task  we  can  dedicate  our  lives  and  our  fortunes,  every 
thing  that  we  are  and  everything  that  we  have,  with  the 
pride  of  those  who  know  that  the  day  has  come  when 
America  is  privileged  to  spend  her  blood  and  her  might 

15  for  the  principles  that  gave  her  birth  and  happiness  and 
the  peace  which  she  has  treasured.  God  helping  her,  she 
can  do  no  other. 


^ 


TO  THE  COUNTRY 

[President  Wilson's  Address  to  his  Fellow-Countrymen,  April  16, 
1917.] 

MY  FELLOW-COUNTRYMEN: 

The  entrance  of  our  own  beloved  country  into  the  grim 
and  terrible  war  for  democracy  and  human  rights  which 
has  shaken  the  world  creates  so  many  problems  of  na 
tional  life  and  action  which  call  for  immediate  considera-  5 
tion  and  settlement  that  I  hope  you  will  permit  me  to 
address  to  you  a  few  words  of  earnest  counsel  and  appeal 
with  regard  to  them. 

We  are  rapidly  putting  our  navy  upon  an  effective  war 
footing  and  are  about  to  create  and  equip  a  great  army,  10 
but  these  are  the  simplest  parts  of  the  great  task  to  which 
we  have  addressed  ourselves.    There  is  not  a  single  selfish 
element,  so  far  as  I  can  see,  in  the  cause  we  are  fighting 
for.    We  are  fighting  for  what  we  believe  and  wish  to  be  ; 
the  righiToFmankmdlLniiTor  the  future  peace  and  security  15 
of  the  world.    To  do  this  great  thing  worthily  and  success 
fully  we  must  devote  ourselves  to  the  service  without 
regard  to  profit  or  material  advantage  and  with  an  energy 
and  intelligence  that  will  rise  to  the  level  of  the  enterprise 
itself.    We  must  realize  to  the  full  how  great  the  task  is  20 
and  how  many  things,  how  many  kinds  and  elements  of 
capacity  and  service  and  self-sacrifice,  it  involves. 

These,  then,  are  the  things  we  must  do,  and  do  well, 
besides  fighting,  —  the  things  without  which  mere  fighting 
would  be  fruitless:  25 

We  must  supply  abundant  food  for  ourselves  and  for  our 
armies  and  our  seamen  not  only,  but  also  for  a  large  part 

253 


254  Woodrow  Wilson 

of  the  nations  with  whom  we  have  now  made  common 
cause,  in  whose  support  and  by  whose  sides  we  shall  be 
fighting. 

We  must  supply  ships  by  the  hundreds  out  of  our  ship- 
5  yards  to  carry  to  the  other  side  of  the  sea,  submarines  or  no 
'submarines,  what  will  every  day  be  needed  there,  and 
abundant  materials  out  of  our  fields  and  our  mines  and  our 
factories  with  which  not  only  to  clothe  and  equip  our  own 
forces  on  land  and  sea  but  also  to  clothe  and  support  our 

10  people  for  whom  the  gallant  fellows  under  arms  can  no 
longer  work,  to  help  clothe  and  equip  the  armies  with 
which  we  are  cooperating  in  Europe,  and  to  keep  the 
looms  and  manufactories  there  in  raw  material;  coal  to 
keep  the  fires  going  in  ships  at  sea  and  in  the  furnaces  of 

15  hundreds  of  factories  across  the  sea;  steel  out  of  which  to 
make  arms  and  ammunition  both  here  and  there;  rails  for 
worn-out  railways  back  of  the  fighting  fronts;  locomotives 
and  rolling  stock  to  take  the  place  of  those  every  day  going 
to  pieces;  mules,  horses,  cattle  for  labor  and  for  military 

20  service;  everything  with  which  the  people  of  England  and 
France  and  Italy  and  Russia  have  usually  supplied  them 
selves  but  cannot  now  afford  the  men,  the  materials,  or 
the  machinery  to  make. 

It  is  evident  to  every  thinking  man  that  our  industries, 

25  on  the  farms,  in  the  shipyards,  in  the  mines,  in  the  fac 
tories,  must  be  made  more  prolific  and  more  efficient  than 
ever  and  that  they  must  be  more  economically  managed 
and  better  adapted  to  the  particular  requirements  of  our 
task  than  they  have  been;  and  what  I  want  to  say  is  that 

30  the  men  and  the  women  who  devote  their  thought  and  their 
energy  to  these  things  will  be  serving  the  country  and 
conducting  the  fight  for  peace  and  freedom  just  as  truly 
and  just  as  effectively  as  the  men  on  the  battlefield  or  in 
the  trenches.  The  industrial  forces  of  the  country,  men 


To  the  Country  255 

and  women  alike,  will  be  a  great  national,  a  great  inter 
national,  Service  Army, — a  notable  and  honored  host 
engaged  in  the  service  of  the  nation  and  the  world,  the 
efficient  friends  and  saviors  of  free  men  everywhere.  Thou 
sands,  nay,  hundreds  of  thousands,  of  men  otherwise  liable  5 
to  military  .service  will  of  right  and  of  necessity  be  excused 
from  that  service  and  assigned  to  the  fundamental,  sus 
taining  work  of  the  fields  and  factories  and  mines,  and 
they  will  be  as  much  part  of  the  great  patriotic  forces  of 
the  nation  as  the  men  under  fire.  10 

I  take  the  liberty,  therefore,  of  addressing  this  word  to 
the  farmers  of  the  country  and  to  all  who  work  on  the 
farms:  The  supreme  need  of  our  own  nation  and  of  the 
nations  with  which  we  are  cooperating  is  an  abundance  of 
supplies,  and  especially  of  food-stuffs.  The  importance  of  15 
an  adequate  food  supply,  especially  for  the  present  year,  is 
superlative.  Without  abundant  food,  alike  for  the  armies 
and  the  peoples  now  at  war,  the  whole  great  enterprise 
upon  which  we  have  embarked  will  break  down  and  fail. 
The  world's  food  reserves  are  low.  Not  only  during  the  20 
present  emergency  but  for  some  time  after  peace  shall 
have  come  both  our  own  people  and  a  large  proportion  of 
the  people  of  Europe  must  rely  upon  the  harvests  in 
America.  Upon  the  farmers  of  this  country,  therefore,  in 
large  measure,  rests  the  fate  of  the  war  and  the  fate  of  the  25 
nations.  May  the  nation  not  count  upon  them  to  omit 
no  step  that  will  increase  the  production  of  their  land  or 
that  will  bring  about  the  most  effectual  cooperation  in  the 
sale  and  distribution  of  their  products?  The  time  is 
short.  It  is  of  the  most  imperative  importance  that  30 
everything  possible  be  done  and  done  immediately  to  make 
sure  of  large  harvests.  I  call  upon  young  men  and  old 
alike  and  upon  the  able-bodied  boys  of  the  land  to  accept 
and  act  upon  this  duty — to  turn  in  hosts  to  the  farms  and 


256  Woodrow  Wilson 

make  certain  that  no  pains  and  no  labor  is  lacking  in  this 
great  matter. 

I  particularly  appeal  to  the  farmers  of  the  South  to 
plant  abundant  food-stuffs  as  well  as  cotton.  They  can 
5  show  their  patriotism  in  no  better  or  more  convincing 
way  than  by  resisting  the  great  temptation  of  the  present 
price  of  cotton  and  helping,  helping  upon  a  great  scale,  to 
feed  the  nation  and  the  peoples  everywhere  who  are  fight 
ing  for  their  liberties  and  for  our  own.  The  variety  of 

10  their  crops  will  be  the  visible  measure  of  their  comprehen 
sion  of  their  national  duty. 

The  Government  of  the  United  States  and  the  govern 
ments  of  the  several  States  stand  ready  to  cooperate. 
They  will  do  everything  possible  to  assist  farmers  in  secur- 

15  ing  an  adequate  supply  of  seed,  an  adequate  force  of 
laborers  when  they  are  most  needed,  at  harvest  time,  and 
the  means  of  expediting  shipments  of  fertilizers  and  farm 
machinery,  as  well  as  of  the  crops  themselves  when  har 
vested.  The  course  of  trade  shall  be  as  unhampered  as  it 

20  is  possible  to  make  it  and  there  shall  be  no  unwarranted 
manipulation  of  the  nation's  food  supply  by  those  who 
handle  it  on  its  way  to  the  consumer.    This  is  our  oppor-N 
tunity  to  demonstrate  the  efficiency  of  a  great  Democracy 
we  shall  not  fall  short  of  it! 

25  *  This  let  me  say  to  the  middlemen  of  every  sort,  whether 
jy  are  handling  our  food-stuffs  or  our  raw  materials  of 
manufacture  or  the  products  of  our  mills  and  factories: 
The  eyes  of  the  country  will  be  especially  upon  you.  This 
is  your  opportunity  for  signal  service,  efficient  and  dis- 

30  interested.  The  country  expects  you,  as  it  expects  all 
others,  to  forego  unusual  profits,  to  organize  and  expedite 
shipments  of  supplies  of  every  kind,  but  especially  of  food, 
with  an  eye  to  the  service  you  are  rendering  and  in  the 
spirit  of  those  who  enlist  in  the  ranks,  for  their  people,  not 


To  the  Country  257 

for  themselves.    I  shall  confidently  expect  you  to  deserve 
and  win  the  confidence  of  people  of  every  sort  and  station. 

To  the  men  who  run  the  railways  of  the  country,  whether 
they  be  managers  or  operative  employees,  let  me  say  that 
the  railways  are  the  arteries  of  the  nation's  life  arid  that  5 
upon  them  rests  the  immense  responsibility  of  seeing  to  it 
that  those  arteries  suffer  no  obstruction  of  any  kind,  no 
inefficiency  or  slackened  power.  To  the  merchant  let 
me  suggest  the  motto,  "Small  profits  and  quick  service"; 
and  to  the  shipbuilder  the  thought  that  the  life  of  the  war  10 
depends  upon  him.  The  food  and  the  war  supplies  must  be 
carried  across  the  seas  no  matter  how  many  ships  are  sent 
to  the  bottom.  The  places  of  those  that  go  down  must  be 
supplied  and  supplied  at  once.  To  the  miner  let  me  say 
that  he  stands  where  the  farmer  does:  the  work  of  the  15 
world  waits  on  him.  If  he  slackens  or  fails,  armies  and 
statesmen  are  helpless.  He  also  is  enlisted  in  the  great 
Service  Army.  The  manufacturer  does  not  need  to  be 
told,  I  hope,  that  the  nation  looks  to  him  to  speed  and 
perfect  every  process;  and  I  want  only  to  remind  his  em-  20 
ployees  that  their  service  is  absolutely  indispensable  and 
is  counted  on  by  every  man  who  loves  the  country  and  its 
liberties. 

Let  me  suggest,  also,   that  everyone  who  creates  or 
cultivates  a  garden  helps,  and  helps  greatly,  to  solve  the  25 
problem  of  the  feeding  of  the  nations;  and  that  every 
housewife  who  practices  strict  economy  puts  herself  in  the 
ranks  of  those  who  serve  the  nation.    This  is  the  time  for 
America  to  correct  her  unpardonable  fault  of  wastefulness 
and  extravagance.    Let  every  man  and  every  woman  as-  30 
sume  the  duty  of  careful,  provident  use  and  expenditure  as 
a  public  duty,  as  a  dictate  of  patriotism  which  no  one  can 
now  expect  ever  to  be  excused  or  forgiven  for  ignoring. 

In  the  hope  that  this  statement  of  the  needs  of  the  na- 


258  Woodrow  Wilson 

tion  and  of  the  world  in  this  hour  of  supreme  crisis  may 
stimulate  those  to  whom  it  comes  and  remind  all  who  need 
reminder  of  the  solemn  duties  of  a  time  such  as  the  world 
has  never  seen  before,  I  beg  that  all  editors  and  pub- 
5  Ushers  everywhere  will  give  as  prominent  publication  and 
as  wide  circulation  as  possible  to  this  appeal.  I  venture  to 
suggest,  also,  to  all  advertising  agencies  that  they  would 
perhaps  render  a  very  substantial  and  timely  service  to  the 
country  if  they  would  give  it  widespread  repetition.  And 
10  I  hope  that  clergymen  wTill  not  think  the  theme  of  it  an 
unworthy  or  inappropriate  subject  of  comment  and  homily 
from  their  pulpits. 

The  supreme  test  of  the  nation  has  come.    We  must  all 
speak,  act,  and  serve  together! 

WOODROW  WILSON. 


-<*«tAA>S       ^jti 

4 


THE  GERMAN  PLOT 

[Speech  in  Washington  Monument  Grounds,  June  14,  1917.] 

We  know  now  clearly,  as  we  knew  before  we  ourselves 
were  engaged  in  the  War,  that  we  are  not  enemies  of  the 
German  people,  and  they  are  not  our  enemies.  They  did 
not  originate,  or  desire,  this  hideous  war,  or  wish  that 
we  should  be  drawn  into  it,  and  we  are  vaguely  conscious 
that  we  are  fighting  their  cause,  as  they  will  some  day 
see  it  themselves,  as  well  as  our  own.  They  themselves 
are  in  the  grip  of  the  same  sinister  power  that  has  stretched 
its  ugly  talons  out  and  drawn  blood  from  us. 

The  War  was  begun  by  the  military  masters  of  Ger- 
many,  who  have  proved  themselves  to  be  also  the  masters 
of  Austria-Hungary.  These  men  never  regarded  nations 
as  peoples  of  men,  women,  and  children  of  like  blood  and 
frame  as  themselves,  for  whom  Governments  existed  and 
'in  whom  Governments  had  their  life.  They  regarded  them  15 
merely  as  serviceable  organizations,  which  they  could, 
either  by  force  or  intrigue,  bend  or  corrupt  to  their  own 
purpose.  They  regarded  the  smaller  States,  particularly, 
and  those  peoples,  who  could  be  overwhelmed  by  force, 
as  their  natural  tools  and  instruments  of  domination. 

Their  purpose  had  long  been  avowed.  The  statesmen 
of  other  nations,  to  whom  that  purpose  was  incredible, 
paid  little  attention,  and  regarded  what  the  German  pro 
fessors  expounded  in  their  class-rooms  and  the  German 
writers  set  forth  to  the  world  as  the  goal  of  German  policy  25 
as  rather  the  dream  of  minds  detached  from  practical 
affairs  and  the  preposterous  private  conceptions  of  Ger 
many's  destiny  than  the  actual  plans  of  responsible  rulers. 

259 


260  Wood  row  Wilson 

But  the  rulers  of  Germany  knew  all  the  while  what  con 
crete  plans,  what  well-advanced  intrigue,  lay  at  the  back 
of  what  professors  and  writers  were  saying,  and  were 
glad  to  go  forward  unmolested,  filling  the  thrones  of  the 

5  Balkan  States  with  German  princes,  putting  German 
officers  at  the  service  of  Turkey,  developing  plans  of  sedi 
tion  and  rebellion  in  India  and  Egypt,  and  setting  their 
fires  in  Persia. 

The  demands  made  by  Austria  upon  Serbia  were  a  mere 

10  single  step  in  the  plan  which  compassed  Europe  and  Asia 
from  Berlin  to  Bagdad.  They  hoped  that  these  demands 
might  not  arouse  Europe,  but  they  meant  to  press  them, 
whether  they  did  or  not.  For  they  thought  themselves 
ready  for  the  final  issue  of  arms.  Their  plan  was  to  throw 

15  a  belt  of  German  military  power  and  political  control 
across  the  very  center  of  Europe  and  beyond  the  Mediter 
ranean  into  the  heart  of  Asia,  and  Austria-Hungary  was 
to  be  as  much  their  tool  and  pawn  as  Serbia,  Bulgaria, 
Turkey,  or  the  ponderous  States  of  the  East.  Austria- 

20  Hungary,  indeed,  was  to  become  a  part  of  the  Central 

German  Empire,  absorbed  and  dominated  by  the  same 

forces  and  influences  that  originally  cemented  the  German 

States  themselves. 

The  dream  had  its  heart  at  Berlin.    It  could  have  had 

25  its  heart  nowhere  else.  It  rejected  entirely  the  idea  of  the 
solidarity  of  race.  The  choice  of  peoples  played  no  part 
at  all  in  the  contemplated  binding  together  of  the  racial 
and  political  units,  which  could  keep  together  only  by 
force.  And  they  actually  carried  the  greater  part  of  that 

30  amazing  plan  into  execution. 

Look  how  things  stand.  Austria,  at  their  mercy,  has 
acted,  not  upon  its  own  initiative  or  upon  the  choice  of 
its  own  people,  but  at  Berlin's  dictation  ever  since  the 
War  began.  Its  people  now  desire  peace,  but  they  can- 


The  German  Plot  261 

not  have  it  until  leave  is  granted  from  Berlin.  The  so- 
called  Central  Powers  are,  in  fact,  but  a  single  Power. 
Serbia  is  at  its  mercy  should  its  hand  be  but  for  a  moment 
freed;  Bulgaria  consented  to  its  will;  Rumania  is  overrun 
by  the  Turkish  armies,  which  the  Germans  trained  into  5 
serving  Germany,  and  the  guns  of  the  German  warships 
lying  in  the  harbor  at  Constantinople  remind  the  Turkish 
statesmen  every  day  that  they  have  no  choice  but  to  take 
their  orders  from  Berlin. 

From  Hamburg  to  the  Persian  Gulf  the  net  is  spread.  10 
Is  it  not  easy  to  understand  the  eagerness  for  peace  that 
has  been  manifested  by  Berlin  ever  since  the  snare  was 
set  and  sprung?  " Peace,  peace,  peace"  has  been  the  talk 
of  her  Foreign  Office  for  a  year  or  more,  not  peace  upon 
her  own  initiative,  but  upon  the  initiative  of  the  nations  15 
over  which  she  now  deems  herself  to  hold  the  advantage. 
A  little  of  the  talk  has  been  public,  but  most  of  it  has  been 
private,  through  all  sorts  of  channels.  It  has  come  to  me 
in  all  sorts  of  guises,  but  never  with  the  terms  disclosed 
which  the  German  Government  would  be  willing  to  accept.  20 

That  Government  has  other  valuable  pawns  in  its  hands 
besides  those  I  have  mentioned.  It  still  holds  a  valuable 
part  of  France,  though  with  a  slowly  relaxing  grasp,  and 
practically  the  whole  of  Belgium.  Its  armies  press  close 
on  Russia  and  overrun  Poland.  It  cannot  go  farther — it  25 
dare  not  go  back.  It  wishes  to  close  its  bargain  before  it 
is  too  late  and  it  has  little  left  to  offer  for  the  pound  of 
flesh  it  will  demand.  The  military  masters  under  whom 
Germany  is  bleeding  see  very  clearly  to  what  point  fate 
has  brought  them :  if  they  fall  back  or  are  forced  back  an  30 
inch,  their  power  abroad  and  at  home  will  fall  to  pieces. 
It  is  their  power  at  home  of  which  they  are  thinking  now 
more  than  of  their  power  abroad.  It  is  that  power  which 
is  trembling  under  their  very  feet. 


262  Woodrow  Wilson 

Deep  fear  has  entered  their  hearts.  They  have  but  one 
chance  to  perpetuate  their  military  power,  or  even  their 
controlling  political  influence.  If  they  can  secure  peace 
now,  with  the  immense  advantage  still  in  their  hands, 
5  they  will  have  justified  themselves  before  the  German 
people.  They  will  have  gained  by  force  what  they 
promised  to  gain  by  it — an  immense  expansion  of  German 
power  and  an  immense  enlargement  of  German  industrial 
and  commercial  opportunities.  Their  prestige  will  be 

10  secure,  and  with  their  prestige  their  political  power. 

If  they  fail,  their  people  will  thrust  them  aside.  A 
Government  accountable  to  the  people  themselves  will 
be  set  up  in  Germany,  as  has  been  the  case  in  England,  the 
United  States,  and  France — in  all  great  countries  of  mod- 

15  ern  times  except  Germany.  If  they  succeed  they  are  safe, 
and  Germany  and  the  world  are  undone.  If  they  fail, 
Germany  is  saved  and  the  world  will  be  at  peace.  If  they 
succeed,  America  will  fall  within  the  menace,  and  we,  and 
all  the  rest  of  the  world,  must  remain  armed,  as  they  will 

20  remain,  and  must  make  ready  for  the  next  step  in  their 
aggression.  If  they  fail,  the  world  may  unite  for  peace 
and  Germany  may  be  of  the  union. 

Do  you  not  now  understand  the  new  intrigue  for  peace, 
and  why  the  masters  of  Germany  do  not  hesitate  to  use 

25  any  agency  that  promises  to  effect  their  purpose,  the  de 
ceit  of  nations?  Their  present  particular  aim  is  to  deceive 
all  those  who,  throughout  the  world,  stand  for  the  rights 
of  peoples  and  the  self-government  of  nations,  for  they  see 
what  immense  strength  the  forces  of  justice  and  liberalism 

30  are  gathering  out  of  this  war.  They  are  employing  Lib 
erals  in  their  enterprises.  Let  them  once  succeed,  and 
these  men,  now  their  tools,  will  be  ground  to  powder 
beneath  the  weight  of  the  great  military  Empire;  the 
Revolutionists  of  Russia  will  be  cut  off  from  all  succour 


; 


The  German  Plot  263 

•f 


and  the  cooperation  of  Western  Europe,  and  a  counter 
revolution  will  be  fostered  and  supported;  Germany  herself 
will  lose  her  chance  of  freedom,  and  all  Europe  will  arm 
for  the  next  final  struggle. 

The  sinister  intrigue  is  being  no  less  actively  conducted    5 
in  this  country  than  in  Russia  and  in  every  country  of 
Europe  into  which  the  agents  and  dupes  of  the  Imperial 
German  Government  can  get  access.    That  Government 
has  many  spokesmen  here,  in  places  both  high  and  low. 
They  have  learned  discretion;  they  keep  within  the  law.  10 
It  is  opinion  they  utter  now,  not  sedition.    They  proclaim 
the  liberal  purposes  of  their  masters,  and  they  declare 
that  this  is  a  foreign  war,  which  can  touch  America  with 
no  danger  either  to  her  lands  or  institutions.     They  set 
England  at  the  center  of  the  stage,  and  talk  of  her  ambi-  15 
tion   to  assert  her  economic  dominion   throughout  the 
world.    They  appeal  to  our  ancient  tradition  of  isolation, 
and  seek  to  undermine  the  Government  with  false  profes 
sions  of  loyalty  to  its  principles. 

But  they  will  make  no  headway.     Falsehood  betrays  20 
them  in  every  accent.    These  facts  are  patent  to  all  the 
world,   and  nowhere  more  plainly  than  in  the  United 
States,  where  we  are  accustomed  to  deal  with  facts,  not 
sophistries;  and  the  great  fact  that  stands  out  above  all      * 
the  rest  is  that  this  is  a  peoples'  war  for  freedom,  justice  25 
and  self-government  among  all  the  nations  of  the  world,  a 
war  to  make  the  world  safe  for  the  peoples  who  live  upon 
it,  the  German  people  included,  and  that  with  us  rests 
the  choice   to  break  through  all  these  hypocrisies,  the 
patent  cheats  and  masks  of  brute  force,  and  help  set  the  30 
world  free,  or  else  stand  aside  and  let  it  be  dominated 
through  sheer  weight  of  arms  and  the  arbitrary  choices 
of  the  self-constituted  masters  by  the  nation  which  can 
maintain  the  biggest  armies,  the  most  irresistible  arma- 


264  Woodrow  Wilson 

ments,  a  power  to  which  the  world  has  afforded  no  parallel, 

in  the  face  of  which  political  freedom  must  wither  and 

perish. 

For  us  there  was  but  one  choice.     We  have  made  it, 
5  and  woe  be  to  that  man,  or  that  group  of  men,  that  seeks 

to  stand  in  our  way  in  this  day  of  high  resolution,  when 

every  principle  we  hold  dearest  is  to  be  vindicated  and 
.  made  secure  for  the  salvation  of  the  nation.    We  are  ready 

to  plead  at  the  bar  of  history,  and  our  flag  shall  wear  a 
10  new  luster.    Once  more  we  shall  make  good  with  our  lives 

and  fortunes  the  great  faith  to  which  we  are  born,  and  a 
i   new  glory  shall  shine  in  the  face  of  our  people. 


REPLY  TO  THE  POPE 

[This  important  and  eloquent  document,  though  signed  by  the 
Secretary  of  State,  was  of  course  authorized  by  the  President,  and 
indeed  bears  internal  marks  of  being  his  own  composition.  The  Pope 
had  made  a  plea  for  peace,  which  was  by  our  government  deemed 
premature.] 

AUGUST  27,  1917. 
To  His  HOLINESS  BENEDICTUS  XV,  POPE: 

In   acknowledgment   of   the   communication   of  Your 
Holiness  to  the  belligerent  peoples,  dated  August  i,  1917, 
the  President  of  the  United  States  requests  me  to  transmit    5 
the  following  reply: 

Every  heart  that  has  not  been  blinded  and  hardened 
by  this  terrible  war  must  be  touched  by  this  moving  appeal 
of  His  Holiness  the  Pope,  must  feel  the  dignity  and  force 
of  the  humane  and  generous  motives  which  prompted  it,  10 
and  must  fervently  wish  that  we  might  take  the  path  of 
peace  he  so  persuasively  points  out.  But  it  would  be  folly 
to  take  it  if  it  does  not  in  fact  lead  to  the  goal  he  proposes. 
Our  response  must  be  based  upon  the  stern  facts  and  upon 
nothing  else.  It  is  not  a  mere  cessation  of  arms  he  desires;  15 
it  is  a  stable  and  enduring  peace.  This  agony  must  not 
be  gone  through  with  again,  and  it  must  be  a  matter  of 
very  sober  judgment  that  will  insure  us  against  it. 

His  Holiness  in  substance  proposes  that  we  return  to 
the  status  quo  ante  bellum,  and  that  then  there  be  a  20 
general  condonation,  disarmament,  and  a  concert  of  na 
tions  based  upon  an  acceptance  of  the  principle  of  arbi 
tration;  that  by  a  similar  concert  freedom  of  the  seas  be 
established;  and  that  the  territorial  claims  of  France  and 
Italy,  the  perplexing  problems  of  the  Balkan  States,  and  25 

265 


266  Woodrow  Wilson      ^ 

the  restitution  of  Poland  be  left  to  such  conciliatory  ad 
justments  as  may  be  possible  in  the  new  temper  of  such  a 
peace,  due  regard  being  paid  to  the  aspirations  of  the 
peoples  whose  political  fortunes  and  affiliations  will  be 
5  involved. 

It  is  manifest  that  no  part  of  this  program  can  be  suc 
cessfully  carried  out  unless  the  restitution  of  the  status 
quo  ante  furnishes  a  firm  and  satisfactory  basis  for  it. 
The  object  of  this  war  is  to  deliver  the  free  peoples  of  the 

10  world  from  the  menace  and  the  actual  power  of  a  vast 
military  establishment  controlled  by  an  irresponsible  gov 
ernment  which,  having  secretly  planned  to  dominate  the 
world,  proceeded  to  carry  the  plan  out  without  regard 
either  to  the  sacred  obligations  of  treaty  or  the  long-estab- 

15  lished  practices  and  long-cherished  principles  of  interna 
tional  action  and  honor;  which  chose  its  own  time  for  the 
war;  delivered  its  blow  fiercely  and  suddenly;  stopped  at 
no  barrier  either  of  law  or  of  mercy;  swept  a  whole  con 
tinent  within  the  tide  of  blood — not  the  blood  of  soldiers 

20  only,  but  the  blood  of  innocent  women  and  children  also 
and  of  the  helpless  poor;  and  now  stands  balked  Jnjt  not 
defeated,  the  enemy  of  four-fifths  of  the  world/'  This 
power  is  not  the  German  people.  It  is  the  ruthless  master 
of  the  German  people.  It  is  no  business  of  ours  how  that 

25  great  people  came  under  its  control  or  submitted  with 
temporary  zest  to  the  domination  of  its  purpose;  but  it 
is  our  business  to  see  to  it  that  the  history  of  the  rest  of 

J    the  world  is  no  longer  left  to  its  handling. 

To  deal  with  such  a  power  by  way  of  peace  upon  the 

30  plan  proposed  by  His  Holiness  the  Pope  would,  so  far  as 
we  can  see,  involve  a  recuperation  of  its  strength  and  a 
renewal  of  its  policy;  would  make  it  necessary  to  create  a 
permanent  hostile  combination  of  nations  against  the 
German  people  who  are  its  instruments;  and  would  result 


[^     _  U<AV    *,  •*   fc   S 

Reply  to  the  Pope  267 

in  abandoning  the  newborn  Russia  to  the  intrigue,  the 
manifold  subtle  interference,  and  the  certain  counter 
revolution  which  would  be  attempted  by  all  the  malign 
influences  to  which  the  German  Government  has  of  late 
accustomed  the  world.  Can  peace  be  based  upon  a  restitu-  5 
tion  of  its  power  or  upon  any  word  of  honor  it  could  pledge 
in  a  treaty  of  settlement  and  accommodation? 

Responsible  statesmen  must  now  everywhere  see,  if 
they  never  saw  before,  that  no  peace  can  rest  securely 
upon  political  or  economic  restrictions  meant  to  benefit  10 
some  nations  and  cripple  or  embarrass  others,  upon  vin 
dictive  action  of  any  sort,  or  any  kind  of  revenge  or  de 
liberate  injury.  The  American  people  have  suffered  in 
tolerable  wrongs  at  the  hands  of  the  Imperial  German 
Government,  but  they  desire  no  reprisal  upon  the  German  15 
people  who  have  themselves  suffered  all  things  in  this 
war. which  they  did  not  choose.  They  believe  that  peacev 
should  rest  upon  the  rights  of  peoples,  not  the  rights  of 
Governments — the  rights  of  peoples  great  or  small,  weak 
or  powerful — their  equal  right  to  freedom  and  security  20 
and  self-government  and  to  a  participation  upon  fair 
terms  in  the  economic  opportunities  of  the  world,  the 
German  people  of  course  included  if  they  will  accept 
equality  and  not  seek  domination. 

The  test,  therefore,  of  every  plan  of  peace  is  this:  Is  it  25 
based  upon  the  faith  of  all  the  peoples  involved  or  merely 
upon  the  word  of  an  ambitious  and  intriguing  government 
on  the  one  hand  and  of  a  group  of  free  peoples  on  the 
other?  This  is  a  test  which  goes  to  the  root  of  the  matter; 
and  it  is  the  test  which  must  be  applied.  30 

The  purposes  of  the  United  States  in  this  war  are  known 
to  the  whole  world,  to  every  people  to  whom  the  truth 
has  been  permitted  to  come.  They  do  not  need  to  be 
stated  again.  We  seek  no  material  advantage  of  any 

WY 

(<U       Ji. 


268  Woodrow  Wilson 


kind.  We  believe  that  the  intolerable  wrongs  done  in  this 
war  by  the  furious  and  brutal  power  of  the  Imperial  Ger 
man  Government  ought  to  be  repaired,  but  not  at  the 
expense  of  the  sovereignty  of  any  people — rather  a  vindica- 
5  tion  of  the  sovereignty  both  of  those  that  are  weak  and 
of  those  that  are  strong.  Punitive  damages,  the  dismem 
berment  of  empires,  the  establishment  of  selfish  and  ex 
clusive  economic  leagues,  we  deem  inexpedient  and  in 
the  end  worse  than  futile,  no  proper  basis  for  a  peace  of 

10  any  kind,  least  of  all  for  an  enduring  peace.  That  must 
be  based  upon  justice  and  fairness  and  the  common  rights 
of  mankind. 

We  cannot  take  the  word  of  the  present  rulers  of  Ger 
many  as  a  guaranty  of  anything  that  is  to  endure,  unless 

15  explicitly  supported  by  such  conclusive  evidence  of  the 
will  and  purpose  of  the  German  people  themselves  as  the 
other  peoples  of  the  world  would  be  justified  in  accepting. 
Without  such  guaranties  treaties  of  settlement,  agreements 
for  disarmament,  covenants  to  set  up  arbitration  in  the 

20  place  of  force,  territorial  adjustments,  reconstitutions  of 
small  nations,  if  made  with  the  German  Government,  no 
man,  no  nation  could  now  depend  on.  We  must  await 
some  new  evidence  of  the  purposes  of  the  great  peoples 
of  the  central  powers.  God  grant  it  may  be  given  soon 

25  and  in  a  way  to  restore  the  confidence  of  all  peoples  every 
where  in  the  faith  of  nations  and  the  possibility  of  a  cove 
nanted  peace. 

ROBERT  LANSING, 
Secretary  of  State  of  the  United  States  of  America. 


LABOR  MUST  BE  FREE 

[Address  to  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  Convention,  Buffalo, 
York,  November  12,  1917.] 

MR.  PRESIDENT,  DELEGATES  OF  THE  AMERICAN  FEDERA 
TION  OF  LABOR,  LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN: 
I  esteem  it  a  great  privilege  and  a  real  honor  to  be  thus 
admitted  to  your  public  counsels.    When  your  executive 
committee  paid  me  the  compliment  of  inviting  me  here  I    5 
gladly  accepted  the  invitation  because  it  seems  to  me 
that  this,  above  all  other  times  in  our  history,  is  the  time 
for  common  counsel,  for  the  drawing  together  not  only  of 
the  energies  but  of  the  minds  of  the  Nation.    I  thought 
that  it  was  a  welcome  opportunity  for  disclosing  to  you  10 
some  of  the  thoughts  that  have  been  gathering  in  my  mind 
during  these  last  momentous  months. 

CRITICAL  TIME   IN   HISTORY 

I  am  introduced  to  you  as  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  and  yet  I  would  be  pleased  if  you  would  put  the 
thought  of  the  office  into  the  background  and  regard  me  15 
as  one  of  your  fellow-citizens  who  has  come  here  to  speak, 
not  the  words  of  authority,  but  the  words  of  counsel;  the 
words  which  men  should  speak  to  one  another  who  wish 
to  be  frank  in  a  moment  more  critical  perhaps  than  the 
history  of  the  world  has  ever  yet  known;  a  moment  when  20 
it  is  every  man's  duty  to  forget  himself,  to  forget  his  own 
interests,  to  fill  himself  with  the  nobility  of  a  great  na 
tional  and  world  conception,  and  act  upon  a  new  platform 

269 


270  Woodrow  Wilson 

elevated  above  the  ordinary  affairs  of  life  and  lifted  to 
where  men  have  views  of  the  long  destiny  of  man 
kind. 

I  think  that  in  order  to  realize  just  what  this  moment  of 
5  counsel  is  it  is  very  desirable  that  we  should  remind  our 
selves  just  how  this  war  came  about  and  just  what  it  is  for. 
You  can  explain  most  wars  very  simply,  but  the  explana-^ 
tion  of  this  is  not  so  simple.    Its  roots  run  deep  into  all  the 
Obscure  soils  of  history,  and  in  my  view  this  is  the  last 
10  decisive  issue  between  the  old  principle  of  power  and  the 
new  principle  of  freedom. 

WAR   STARTED   BY   GERMANY 

The  war  was  started  by  Germany.  Her  authorities 
deny  that  they  started  it,  but  I  am  willing  to  let  the  state 
ment  I  have  just  made  await  the  verdict  of  history.  And 

15  the  thing  that  needs  to  be  explained  is  why  Germany 
started  the  war.  Remember  what  the  position  of  Germany 
in  the  world  was — as  enviable  a  position  as  any  nation 
has  ever  occupied.  The  whole  world  stood  at  admiration 
of  her  wonderful  intellectual  and  material  achievements. 

20  All  the  intellectual  men  of  the  world  went  to  school  to 
her.  As  a  university  man  I  have  been  surrounded  by 
men  trained  in  Germany,  men  who  had  resorted  to  Ger 
many  because  nowhere  else  could  they  get  such  thorough 
and  searching  training,  particularly  in  the  principles  of 

25  science  and  the  principles  that  underlie  modern  material 
achievement.  Her  men  of  science  had  made  her  indus 
tries  perhaps  the  most  competent  industries  of  the  world, 
and  the  label  "Made  in  Germany"  was  a  guarantee  of 
good  workmanship  and  of  sound  material.  She  had 

30  access  to  all  the  markets  of  the  world,  and  every  other 
nation  who  traded  in  those  markets  feared  Germany  be- 


Labor  Must  be  Free  271 

cause  of  her  effective  and  almost  irresistible  competition. 
She  had  a  "  place  in  the  sun." 


GERMANY'S  INDUSTRIAL  GROWTH 

Why  was  she  not  satisfied?  What  more  did  she  want? 
There  was  nothing  in  the  world  of  peace  that  she  did  not 
already  have  and  have  in  abundance.  We  boast  of  the  5 
extraordinary  pace  of  American  advancement.  We  show 
with  pride  the  statistics  of  the  increase  of  our  industries 
and  of  the  population  of  our  cities.  Well,  those  statistics 
did  not  match  the  recent  statistics  of  Germany.  Her  old 
cities  took  on  youth  and  grew  faster  than  any  American  10 
cities  ever  grew.  Her  old  industries  opened  their  eyes  and 
saw  a  new  world  and  went  out  for  its  conquest.  And  yet 
the  authorities  of  Germany  were  not  satisfied. 

You  have  one  part  of  the  answer  to  the  question  why  she 
was  not  satisfied  in  her  methods  of  competition.    There  is  15 
no  important  industry  in  Germany  upon  which  the  Govern 
ment  has  not  laid  its  hands,  to  direct  it  and,  when  necessity 
arose,  control  it;  and  you  have  only  to  ask  any  man  whom 
you  meet  who  is  familiar  with  the  conditions  that  prevailed 
before  the  war  in  the  matter  of  national  competition  to  20 
find  out  the  methods  of  competition  which  the  German 
manufacturers  and  exporters  used  under  the  patronage 
and  support  of  the  Government  of  Germany.    You  will 
find  that  they  were  the  same  sorts  of  competition  that  we 
have  tried  to  prevent  by  law  within  our  own  borders.    If  25 
they  could  not  sell  their  goods  cheaper  than  we  could  sell 
ours  at  a  profit  to  themselves  they  could  get  a  subsidy 
from  the  Government  which  made  it  possible  to  sell  them 
cheaper  anyhow,  and  the  conditions  of  competition  were 
thus  controlled  in  large  measure  by  the  German  Govern-  30 
ment  itself. 


272  Woodrow  Wilson 


BERLIN-BAGDAD   RAILWAY 

But  that  did  not  satisfy  the  German  Government.  All 
the  while  there  was  lying  behind  its  thought  and  in  its 
dreams  of  the  future  a  political  control  which  would 
enable  it  in  the  long  run  to  dominate  the  labor  and  the 

5  industry  of  the  world.  They  were  not  content  with  success 
by  superior  achievement;  they  wanted  success  by  author 
ity.  I  suppose  very  few  of  you  have  thought  much  about 
the  Berlin-to-Bagdad  Railway.  The  Berlin-Bagdad  Rail 
way  was  constructed  in  order  to  run  the  threat  of  force 

10  down  the  flank  of  the  industrial  undertakings  of  half  a 
dozen  other  countries;  so  that  when  German  competition 
came  in  it  would  not  be  resisted  too  far,  because  there  was 
always  the  possibility  of  getting  German  armies  into  the 
heart  of  that  country  quicker  than  any  other  armies  could 

15  be  got  there. 

Look  at  the  map  of  Europe  now!  Germany  is  thrusting 
upon  us  again  and  again  the  discussion  of  peace  talks, — 
about  what?  Talks  about  Belgium;  talks  about  northern 
France;  talks  about  Alsace-Lorraine.  Well,  those  are 

20  deeply  interesting  subjects  to  us  and  to  them,  but  they  are 
not  the  heart  of  the  matter.  Take  the  map  and  look  at  it. 
Germany  has  absolute  control  of  Austria-Hungary,  prac 
tical  control  of  the  Balkan  States,  control  of  Turkey,  con 
trol  of  Asia  Minor.  I  saw  a  map  in  which  the  whole 

25  thing  was  printed  in  appropriate  black  the  other  day,  and 
the  black  stretched  all  the  way  from  Hamburg  to  Bagdad — 
the  bulk  of  German  power  inserted  into  the  heart  of  the 
world.  If  she  can  keep  that,  she  has  kept  all  that  her 
dreams  contemplated  when  the  war  began.  If  she  can 

30  keep  that,  her  power  can  disturb  the  world  as  long  as  she 
keeps  it,  always  provided,  for  I  feel  bound  to  put  this 
proviso  in — always  provided  the  present  influences  that 


Labor  Must  be  Free 


273 


control  the  German  Government  continue  to  control  it. 
I  believe  that  the  spirit  of  freedom  can  get  into  the  hearts 
of  Germans  and  find  as  fine  a  welcome  there  as  it  can  find 
in  any  other  hearts,  but  the  spirit  of  freedom  does  not 
suit  the  plans  of  the  Pan-Germans.  Power  cannot  be  used  5 
with  concentrated  force  against  free  peoples  if  it  is  used 
by  free  people. 

PEACE  RUMORS 

You  know  how  many  intimations  come  to  us  from  one  of 
the  central  powers  that  it  is  more  anxious  for  peace  than 
the  chief  central  power,  and  you  know  that  it  means  that  10 
the  people  in  that  central  power  know  that  if  the  war  ends 
as  it  stands  they  will  in  effect  themselves  be  vassals  of 
Germany,    notwithstanding   that   their   populations   are 
compounded  of  all  the  peoples  of  that  part  of  the  world, 
and  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  they  do  not  wish  in  their  15 
pride  and  proper  spirit  of  nationality  to  be  so  absorbed  and 
dominated.      Germany  is  determined  that  the  political 
power  of  the  world  shall  belong  to  her.    There  have  been 
such  ambitions  before.    They  have  been  in  part  realized, 
but  never  before  have  those  ambitions  been  based  upon  so  20 
exact  and  precise  and  scientific  a  plan  of  domination. 

May  I  not  say  that  it  is  amazing  to  me  that  any  group 
of  persons  should  be  so  ill-informed  as  to  suppose,  as  some 
groups  in  Russia  apparently  suppose,  that  any  reforms 
planned  in  the  interest  of  the  people  can  live  in  the  presence  25 
of  a  Germany  powerful  enough  to  undermine  or  overthrow 
them  by  intrigue  or  force?  Any  body  of  free  men  that 
compounds  with  the  present  German  Government  is 
compounding  for  its  own  destruction.  But  that  is  not  the 
whole  of  the  story.  Any  man  in  America  or  anywhere  else  30 
that  supposes  that  the  free  industry  and  enterprise  of  the 
world  can  continue  if  the  Pan-German  plan  is  achieved  and 


274  Woodrow  Wilson 

German  power  fastened  upon  the  world  is  as  fatuous  as  the 
dreamers  in  Russia.  What  I  am  opposed  to  is  not  the 
feeling  of  the  pacifists,  but  their  stupidity.  My  heart  is 
with  them,  but  my  mind  has  a  contempt  for  them.  I  want 
5  peace,  but  I  know  how  to  get  it,  and  they  do  not. 


You  will  notice  that  I  sent  a  friend  of  mine,  Colonel 

House,  to  Europe,  who  is  as  great  a  lover  of  peace  as  any 

man  in  the  world;  but  I  didn't  send  him  on  a  peace  mission 

yet.    I  sent  him  to  take  part  in  a  conference  as  to  how  the 

10  war  was  to  be  won,  and  he  knows,  as  I  know,  that  that  is  the 

way  to  get  peace,  if  you  want  it  for  more  than  a  few  minutes. 

All  of  this  is  a  preface  to  the  conference  that  I  have 

referred  to  with  regard  to  what  we  are  going  to  do.    If  we 

are  true  friends  of  freedom,  our  own  or  anybody  else's,  we 

15  will  see  that  the  power  of  this  country  and  the  productivity 

of  this  country  is  raised  to  its  absolute  maximum,  and  that 

absolutely  nobody  is  allowed  to  stand  in  the  way  of  it. 

When  I  say  that  nobody  is  allowed  to  stand  in  the  way  I 

do  not  mean  that  they  shall  be  prevented  by  the  power  of 

120  the  Government  but  by  the  power  of  the  American  spirit. 

A  |  Our  duty,  if  we  are  to  do  this  great  thing  and  show  America 

7 1 ;  to  be  what  we  believe  her  to  be — the  greatest  hope  and 

energy  of  the  world — is  to  stand  together  night  and  day 

until  the  job  is  finished. 

LABOR  MUST  BE  FREE 

25  While  we  are  fighting  for  freedom  we  must  see,  among 
other  things,  that  labor  is  free;  and  that  means  a  number 
of  interesting  things.  It  means  not  only  that  we  must  do 
what  we  have  declared  our  purpose  to  do,  see  that  the 
conditions  of  labor  are  not  rendered  more  onerous  by  the 


Labor  Must  be  Free  275 

war,  but  also  that  we  shall  see  to  it  that  the  instrumental 
ities  by  which  the  conditions  of  labor  are  improved  are  not 
blocked  or  checked.  That  we  must  do.  That  has  been 
the  matter  about  which  I  have  taken  pleasure  in  conferring 
from  time  to  time  with  your  president,  Mr.  Gompers;  and  5 
if  I  may  be  permitted  to  do  so,  I  want  to  express  my 
admiration  of  his  patriotic  courage,  his  large  vision,  and 
his  statesmanlike  sense  of  what  has  to  be  done.  I  like  to 
lay  my  mind  alongside  of  a  mind  that  knows  how  to  pull  in 
harness.  The  horses  that  kick  over  the  traces  will  have  10 
to  be  put  in  corral. 

Now,  to  stand  together  means  that  nobody  must  inter 
rupt  the  processes  of  our  energy  if  the  interruption  can 
possibly  be  avoided  without  the  absolute  invasion  of 
freedom.  To  put  it  concretely,  that  means  this:  Nobody  15 
has  a  right  to  stop  the  processes  of  labor  until  all  the 
methods  of  conciliation  and  settlement  have  been  ex 
hausted.  And  I  might  as  well  say  right  here  that  I  am  not 
talking  to  you  alone.  You  sometimes  stop  the  courses  of 
labor,  but  there  are  others  who  do  the  same,  and  I  believe  -o 
I  am  speaking  from  my  own  experience  not  only,  but  from 
the  experience  of  others  when  I  say  that  you  are  reasonable 
in  a  larger  number  of  cases  than  the  capitalists.  I  am  not 
saying  these  things  to  them  personally  yet,  because  I  have 
not  had  a  chance,  but  they  have  to  be  said,  not  in  any  spirit  25 
of  criticism,  but  in  order  to  clear  the  atmosphere  and  come 
down  to  business.  Everybody  on  both  sides  has  now  got  to 
transact  business,  and  a  settlement  is  never  impossible 
when  both  sides  want  to  do  the  square  and  right  thing. 

SETTLEMENT  HARD   TO   AVOID 

Moreover,  a  settlement  is  always  hard  to  avoid  when  30 
the  parties  can  be  brought  face  to  face.    I  can  differ  from 


276  Woodrow  Wilson 

a  man  much  more  radically  when  he  is  not  in  the  room 
than  I  can  when  he  is  in  the  room,  because  then  the  awk 
ward  thing  is  he  can  come  back  at  me  and  answer  what  I 
say.  It  is  always  dangerous  for  a  man  to  have  the  floor  en- 

5  tirely  to  himself.  Therefore,  we  must  insist  in  every  in 
stance  that  the  parties  come  into  each  other's  presence  and 
there  discuss  the  issues  between  them,  and  not  separately 
in  places  which  have  no  communication  with  each  other. 
I  always  like  to  remind  myself  of  a  delightful  saying  of  an 

10  Englishman  of  the  past  generation,  Charles  Lamb.  He 
stuttered  a  little  bit,  and  once  when  he  was  with  a  group 
of  friends  he  spoke  very  harshly  of  some  man  who  was 
not  present.  One  of  his  friends  said:  "Why,  Charles,  I 
didn't  know  that  you  knew  so  and  so."  "0-o-oh,"  he 

15  said,  "I-I  d-d-don't;  I-I  can't  h-h  h  hate  a  m-m-man  I-I 
know."  There  is  a  great  deal  of  human  nature,  of  very 
pleasant  human  nature,  in  the  saying.  It  is  hard  to  hate 
a  man  you  know.  I  may  admit,  parenthetically,  that 
there  are  some  politicians  whose  methods  I  do  not  at  all 

20  believe  in,  but  they  are  jolly  good  fellows,  and  if  they  only 
would  not  talk  the  wrong  kind  of  politics  to  me,  I  would 
love  to  be  with  them. 


NO   SYMPATHY   WITH   MOB    SPIRTT 

So  it  is  all  along  the  line,  in  serious  matters  and  things 
less  serious.  We  are  all  of  the  same  clay  and  spirit,  and 

25  we  can  get  together  if  we  desire  to  get  together.  There 
fore,  my  counsel  to  you  is  this:  Let  us  show  ourselves 
Americans  by  showing  that  we  do  not  want  to  go  off  in 
separate  camps  or  groups  by  ourselves,  but  that  we  want 
to  cooperate  with  all  other  classes  and  all  other  groups  in 

30  the  common  enterprise  which  is  to  release  the  spirits  of  the 
world  from  bondage.  I  would  be  willing  to  set  that  up  as 


». 


Labor  Must  be  Free  277 


final  test  of  an  American.     That  is  the  meaning  of 
democracy.    I  have  been  very  much  distressed,  my  fellow- 

/  citizens,  by  some  of  the  things  that  have  happened  re 
cently.    The  mob  spirit  is  displaying  itself  here  and  there 
in  this  country.    I  have  no  sympathy  with  what  some  men    5 
are  saying,  but  I  have  no  sympathy  with  the  men  who 
take  their  punishment  into  their  own  hands;  and  I  want 
to  say  to  every  man  who  does  join  such  a  mob  that  I  do 
not  recognize  him  as  worthy  of  the  free  institutions  of  the 
United  States.     There  are   some   organizations   in   this  10 
country  whose  object  is  anarchy  and  the  destruction  of 
law,  but  I  would  not  meet  their  efforts  by  making  myself 
partner  in  destroying  the  law.    I  despise  and  hate  their 
purposes  as  much  as  any  man,  but  I  respect  the  ancient 
processes  of  justice;  and  I  would  be  too  proud  not  to  see  15 
them  done  justice,  however  wrong  they  are. 

MUST   OBEY   COMMON   COUNSEL 

So  I  want  to  utter  my  earnest  protest  against  any  mani 
festation  of  the  spirit  of  lawlessness  anywhere  or  in  any 
cause.    Why,  gentlemen,  look  what  it  means.    We  claim 
to  be  the  greatest  democratic  people  in  the  world,  and  20 
democracy  means  first  of  all  that  we  can  govern  ourselves. 
If  our  men  have  not  self-control,  then  they  are  not  capable 
of  that  great  thing  which  we  call  democratic  government. 
A  man  who  takes  the  law  into  his  own  hands  is  not  the 
right  man  to  cooperate  in  any  formation  or  development  25 
of  law  and  institutions,  and  some  of  the  processes  by  which 
the  struggle  between  capital  and  labor  is  carried  on  are 
processes  that  come  very  near  to  taking  the  law  into  your 
own  hands.     I  do  not  mean  for  a  moment  to  compare 
them  with  what  I  have  just  been  speaking  of,  but  I  want  30 
you  to  see  that  they  are  mere  gradations  in  this  manifesta- 


278  Wood  row  Wilson 

tion  of  the  unwillingness  to  cooperate,  and  that  the  funda 
mental  lesson  of  the  whole  situation  is  that  we  must  not 
only  take  common  counsel,  but  that  we  must  yield  to  and 
obey  common  counsel.  Not  all  of  the  instrumentalities 
5  for  this  are  at  hand.  I  am  hopeful  that  in  the  very  near 
future  new  instrumentalities  may  be  organized  by  which, 
we  can  see  to  it  that  various  things  that  are  now  going  on 
ought  not  to  go  on.  There  are  various  processes  of  the 
dilution  of  labor  and  the  unnecessary  substitution  of  labor 

10  and  the  bidding  in  distant  markets  and  unfairly  upsetting 
the  whole  competition  of  labor  which  ought  not  to  go  on. 
I  mean  now  on  the  part  of  employers,  and  we  must  in 
terject  some  instrumentality  of  cooperation  by  which  the 
fair  thing  will  be  done  all  around.  I  am  hopeful  that  some 

15  such  instrumentalities  may  be  devised,  but  whether  they 
are  or  not,  we  must  use  those  that  we  have  and  upon  every 
occasion  where  it  is  necessary  have  such  an  instrumen 
tality  originated  upon  that  occasion. 
So,  my  fellow-citizens,  the  reason  I  came  away  from 

20  Washington  is  that  I  sometimes  get  lonely  down  there. 
So  many  people  come  to  Washington  who  know  things 
that  are  not  so,  and  so  few  people  who  know  anything 
about  what  the  people  of  the  United  States  arc  thinking 
about.  I  have  to  come  away  and  get  reminded  of  the  rest 

25  of  the  country.  I  have  to  come  away  and  talk  to  men 
who  are  up  against  the  real  thing,  and  say  to  them,  "I 
am  with  you  if  you  are  with  me."  And  the  only  test  of 
being  with  me  is  not  to  think  about  me  personally  at  all, 
but  merely  to  think  of  me  as  the  expression  for  the  time 

30  being  of  the  power  and  dignity  and  hope  of  the  United 
States. 


THE  CALL  FOR  WAR  WITH  AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 

[Address  delivered  at  a  joint  session  of  the  two  Houses  of  Congress, 
December  4,  1917.] 

GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  CONGRESS: 

Eight  months  have  elapsed  since  I  last  had  the  honor 
of  addressing  you.    They  have  been  months  crowded  with 
events  of  immense  and  grave  significance  for  us.    I  shall 
not  undertake  to  retail  or  even  to  summarize  those  events.    5 
The  practical  particulars  of  the  part  we  have  played  in 
them  will  be  laid  before  you  in  the  reports  of  the  Executive 
Departments.     I  shall  discuss  only  our  present  outlook 
upon  these  vast  affairs,  our  present  duties,  and  the  im 
mediate  means  of  accomplishing  the  objects  we  shall  hold  10 
always  in  view. 

I  shall  not  go  back  to  debate  the  causes  of  the  war. 
The  intolerable  wrongs  done  and  planned  against  us  by 
the  sinister  masters  of  Germany  have  long  since  become 
too  grossly  obvious  and  odious  to  every  true  American  15 
to  need  to  be  rehearsed.  But  I  shall  ask  you  to  consider 
again  and  with  a  very  grave  scrutiny  our  objectives  and 
the  measures  by  which  we  mean  to  attain  them;  for  the 
purpose  of  discussion  here  in  this  place  is  action,  and  our 
action  must  move  straight  towards  definite  ends.  Our  20 
object  is,  of  course,  to  win  the  war;  and  we  shall  not 
slacken  or  suffer  ourselves  to  be  diverted  until  it  is  won. 
But  it  is  worth  while  asking  and  answering  the  question, 
When  shall  we  consider  the  war  won? 

From  one  point  of  view  it  is  not  necessary  to  broach  25 
this  fundamental  matter.    I  do  not  doubt  that  the  Amer 
ican  people  know  what  the  war  is  about  and  what  sort  of 

279 


wl*\    i£F  ov- 

280  Woodrow  Wilson 

an  outcome  they  will  regard  as  a  realization  of  their  pur 
pose  in  it.  As  a  nation  we  are  united  in  spirit  and  inten 
tion.  I  pay  little  heed  to  those  who  tell  me  otherwise. 
I  hear  the  voices  of  dissent, — who  does  not?  I  hear  the 

5  criticism  and  the  clamor  of  the  noisily  thoughtless  and 
troublesome.  I  also  see  men  here  and  there  fling  them 
selves  in  impotent  disloyalty  against  the  calm,  indomitable 
power  of  the  nation.  I  hear  men  debate  peace  who  under 
stand  neither  its  nature  not  the  way  in  which  we  may 

10  attain  it  with  uplifted  eyes  and  unbroken  spirits.    But  I 

know  that  none  of  these  speaks  for  the  nation.    They  do 

not  touch  the  heart  of  anything.     They  may  safely  be 

left  to  strut  their  uneasy  hour  and  be  forgotten. 

But  from  another  point  of  view  I  believe  that  it  is  neces- 

15  sary  to  say  plainly  what  we  here  at  the  seat  of  action  con 
sider  the  war  to  be  for  and  what  part  we  mean  to  play  in 
the  settlement  of  its  searching  issues.  We  are  the  spokes 
men  of  the  American  people  and  they  have  a  right  to  know 
whether  their  purpose  is  ours.  They  desire  peace  by  the 

20  overcoming  of  evil,  by  the  defeat  once  for  all  of  the  sinister 
forces  that  interrupt  peace  and  render  it  impossible,  and 
they  wish  to  know  how  closely  our  thought  runs  with 
theirs  and  what  action  we  propose.  They  are  impatient 
with  those  who  desire  peace  by  any  sort  of  compromise, — 

25  deeply  and  indignantly  impatient, — but  they  will  be 
equally  impatient  with  us  if  we  do  not  make  it  plain  to 
them  what  our  objectives  are  and  what  we  are  planning 
for  in  seeking  to  make  conquest  of  peace  by  arms. 

I  believe  that  I  speak  for  them  when  I  say  two  things: 

30  First,  that  this  intolerable  Thing  of  which  the  masters  of 
Germany  have  shown  us  the  ugly  face,  this  menace  of 
combined  intrigue  and  force  which  we  now  see  so  clearly 
as  the  German  power,  a  Thing  without  conscience  or  honor 
or  capacity  for  covenanted  peace,  must  be  crushed  and, 


The  Call  for  War  with  Austria-Hungary     281 

if  it  be  not  utterly  brought  to  an  end,  at  least  shut  out 
from  the  friendly  intercourse  of  the  nations;  and,  second, 
that  when  this  Thing  and  its  power  are  indeed  defeated 
and  the  time  comes  that  we  can  discuss  peace, — when  the 
German  people  have  spokesmen  whose  word  we  can  be-  5 
lieve  and  when  those  spokesmen  are  ready  in  the  name  of 
their  people  to  accept  the  common  judgment  of  the  na 
tions  as  to  what  shall  henceforth  be  the  bases  of  law  and 
of  covenant  for  the  life  of  the  world, — we  shall  be  willing 
and  glad  to  pay  the  full  price  for  peace,  and  pay  it  un-  10 
grudgingly.  We  know  what  that  price  will  be.  It  will 
be  full,  impartial  justice, — justice  done  at  every  point 
and  to  every  nation  that  the  final  settlement  must  affect, 
our  enemies  as  well  as  our  friends. 

You  catch,  with  me,  the  voices  of  humanity  that  are  15 
in  the  air.    They  grow  daily  more  audible,  more  articulate, 
more  persuasive,  and  they  come  from  the  hearts  of  men 
everywhere.     They  insist  that  the  war  shall  not  end  in 
vindictive . action  of  any  kind;  that  no  nation  or  people 
shall  be  robbed  or  punished  because  the  irresponsible  rulers  20 
of  a  single  country  have  themselves  done  deep  and  abomin 
able  wrong.    It  is  this  thought  that  has  been  expressed  in 
the  formula  "No  annexations,  no  contributions,  no  puni 
tive  indemnities."     Just  because  this  crude  formula  ex 
presses  the  instinctive  judgment  as  to  right  of  plain  men  25 
everywhere  it  has  been  made  diligent  use  of  by  the  mas 
ters  of  German  intrigue  to  lead  the  people  of  Russia 
astray — and   the   people   of   every   other   country   their 
agents  could  reach,  in  order  that  a  premature  peace  might 
be  brought  about  before  autocracy  has  been  taught  its  30 
final  and  convincing  lesson,  and  the  people  of  the  world 
put  in  control  of  their  own  destinies. 

But  the  fact  that  a  wrong  use  has  been  made  of  a  just 
idea  is  no  reason  why  a  right  use  should  not  be  made  of  it. 


282  Woodrow  Wilson 

It  ought  to  be  brought  under  the  patronage  of  its  real 

friends.    Let  it  be  said  again  that  autocracy  must  first  be 

\  shown  the  utter  futility  of  its  claims  to  power  or  leadership 

in  the  modern  world.    It  is  impossible  to  apply  any  stand- 

j  ard  of  justice  so  long  as  such  forces  are  unchecked  and 

undefeated  as  the  present  masters  of  Germany  command. 

Not  until  that  has  been  done  can  Right  be  set  up  as  arbiter 

and  peace-maker  among  the  nations.    But  when  that  has 

been  done, — as,  God  willing,  it  assuredly  will  be, — we  shall 

10  at  last  be  free  to  do  an  unprecedented  thing,  and  this  is  the 
time  to  avow  our  purpose  to  do  it.  We  shall  be  free  to 
base  peace  on  generosity  and  justice,  to  the  exclusion  of 
all  selfish  claims  to  advantage  even  on  the  part  of  the 
victors. 

15  Let  there  be  no  misunderstanding.  Our  present  and 
immediate  task  is  to  win  the  war,  and  nothing  shall  turn 
us  aside  from  it  until  it  is  accomplished.  Every  power  and 
resource  we  possess,  whether  of  men,  of  money,  or  of 
materials,  is  being  devoted  and  will  continue  to  be  de- 

20  voted  to  that  purpose  until  it  is  achieved.  Those  who 
desire  to  bring  peace  about  before  that  purpose  is  achieved 
I  counsel  to  carry  their  advice  elsewhere.  We  will  not 
entertain  it.  We  shall  regard  the  war  as  won  only  when 
the  German  people  say  to  us,  through  properly  accredited 

25  representatives,  that  they  are  ready  to  agree  to  a  settle 
ment  based  upon  justice  and  the  reparation  of  the  wrongs 
their  rulers  have  done.  They  have  done  a  wrong  to  Bel 
gium  which  must  be  repaired.  They  have  established  a 
power  over  other  lands  and  peoples  than  their  own, — over 

30  the  great  Empire  of  Austria-Hungary,  over  hitherto  free 
Balkan  states,  over  Turkey,  and  within  Asia, — which 
must  be  relinquished. 

Germany's  success  by  skill,  by  industry,  by  knowledge, 
by  enterprise  we  did  not  grudge  or  oppose,  but  admired, 


The  Call  for  War  with  Austria-Hungary     283 

rather.  She  had  built  up  for  herself  a  real  empire  of  trade 
and  influence,  secured  by  the  peace  of  the  world.  We  were 
content  to  abide  the  rivalries  of  manufacture,  science,  and 
commerce  that  were  involved  for  us  in  her  success  and 
stand  or  fall  as  we  had  or  did  not  have  the  brains  and  the  ? 

J 

initiative  to  surpass  her.  But  at  the  moment  when  she 
had  conspicuously  won  her  triumphs  of  peace  she  threw 
them  away,  to  establish  in  their  stead  what  the  world  will 
no  longer  permit  to  be  established,  military  and  political 
domination  by  arms,  by  which  to  oust  where  she  could  not  i0 
excel  the  rivals  she  most  feared  and  hated.  The  peace  we 
make  must  remedy  that  wrong.  It  must  deliver  the  once 
fair  lands  and  happy  peoples  of  Belgium  and  northern 
France  from  the  Prussian  conquest  and  the  Prussian 
menace,  but  it  must  also  deliver  the  peoples  of  Austria-  15 
Hungary,  the  peoples  of  the  Balkans,  and  the  peoples  of 
Turkey,  alike  in  Europe  and  in  Asia,  from  the  impudent 
and  alien  dominion  of  the  Prussian  military  and  commer 
cial  autocracy. 

We  owe  it,  however,  to  ourselves  to  say  that  we  do  not  20 
wish  in  any  way  to  impair  or  to  rearrange  the  Austro- 
Hungarian  Empire.    It  is  no  affair  of  ours  what  they  do 
with  their  own  life,  either  industrially  or  politically.    We 
do  not  purpose  or  desire  to  dictate  to  them  in  any  way. 
We  only  desire  to  see  that  their  affairs  are  left  in  their  25 
own  hands,  in  all  matters,  great  or  small.    We  shall  hope 
to  secure  for  the  peoples  of  the  Balkan  peninsula  and  for 
the  people  of  the  Turkish  Empire  the  right  and  opportunity 
to  make  their  own  lives  safe,  their  own  fortunes  secure 
against  oppression  or  injustice  and  from  the  dictation  of  30 
foreign  courts  or  parties. 

And  our  attitude  and  purpose  with  regard  to  Germany 
herself  are  of  a  like  kind.  We  intend  no  wrong  against  the 
German  Empire,  no  interference  with  her  internal  affairs. 


04A** 

284  Woodrow  Wilson 

We  should  deem  either  the  one  or  the  other  absolutely 
unjustifiable,  absolutely  contrary  to  the  principles  we  have 
professed  to  live  by  and  to  hold  most  sacred  throughout 
our  life  as  a  nation. 

5  The  people  of  Germany  are  being  told  by  the  men  whom 
they  now  permit  to  deceive  them  and  to  act  as  their  mas 
ters  that  they  are  fighting  for  the  very  life  and  existence 
of  their  Empire,  a  war  of  desperate  self-defense  against 
deliberate  aggression.  Nothing  could  be  more  grossly  or 

10  wantonly  false,  and  we  must  seek  by  the  utmost  openness 
and  candor  as  to  our  real  aims  to  convince  them  of  its 
falseness.  We  are  in  fact  fighting  for  their  emancipation 
from  fear,  along  with  our  own, — from  the  fear  as  well  as 
from  the  fact  of  unjust  attack  by  neighbors  or  rivals  or 

15  schemers  after  world  empire.  No  one  is  threatening  the 
existence  or  the  independence  or  the  peaceful  enterprise  of 
the  German  Empire. 

The  worst  that  can  happen  to  the  detriment  of  the 
German  people  is  this,  that  if  they  should  still,  after  the 

20  war  is  over,  continue  to  be  obliged  to  live  under  ambitious 
and  intriguing  masters  interested  to  disturb  the  peace  of 
the  world,  men  or  classes  of  men  whom  the  other  peoples  of 
the  world  could  not  trust,  it  might  be  impossible  to  admit 
them  to  the  partnership  of  nations  which  must  henceforth 

25  guarantee  the  world's  peace.  That  partnership  must  be  a 
partnership  of  peoples,  not  a  mere  partnership  of  govern 
ments.  It  might  be  impossible,  also,  in  such  untoward  cir 
cumstances,  to  admit  Germany  to  the  free  economic 
intercourse  which  must  inevitably  spring  out  of  the  other 

30  partnerships  of  a  real  peace.  But  there  would  be  no 
aggression  in  that;  and  such  a  situation,  inevitable  be 
cause  of  distrust,  would  in  the  very  nature  of  things 
sooner  or  later  cure  itself,  by  processes  which  would 
assuredly  set  in. 


The  Call  for  War  with  Austria-Hungary     285 

The  wrongs,  the  very  deep  wrongs,  committed  in  this 
war  will  have  to  be  righted.  That  of  course.  But  they 
cannot  and  must  not  be  righted  by  the  commission  of 
similar  wrongs  against  Germany  and  her  allies.  The 
world  will  not  permit  the  commission  of  similar  wrongs  as  a  5 
means  of  reparation  and  settlement.  Statesmen  must  by 
this  time  have  learned  that  the  opinion  of  the  world  is 
everywhere  wide  awake  and  fully  comprehends  the  issues 
involved.  No  representative  of  any  self-governed  nation 
will  dare  disregard  it  by  attempting  any  such  covenants  of  10 
selfishness  and  compromise  as  were  entered  into  at  the 
Congress  of  Vienna.  The  thought  of  the  plain  people  here 
and  everywhere  throughout  the  world,  the  people  who 
enjoy  no  privilege  and  have  very  simple  and  unsophis 
ticated  standards  of  right  and  wrong,  is  the  air  all  govern-  15 
ments  must  henceforth  breathe  if  they  would  live.  It  is  in 
the  full  disclosing  light  of  that  thought  that  all  policies 
must  be  conceived  and  executed  in  this  midday  hour  of  the 
world's  life.  German  rulers  have  been  able  to  upset  the 
peace  of  the  world  only  because  the  German  people  were  20 
not  suffered  under  their  tutelage  to  share  the  comradeship 
of  the  other  peoples  of  the  world  either  in  thought  or  in 
purpose.  They  were  allowed  to  have  no  opinion  of  their 
own  which  might  be  set  up  as  a  rule  of  conduct  for  those 
who  exercised  authority  over  them.  But  the  congress  25 
that  concludes  this  war  will  feel  the  full  strength  of  the 
tides  that  run  now  in  the  hearts  and  consciences  of  free 
men  everywhere.  Its  conclusions  will  run  with  those 
tides. 

All  these  things  have  been  true  from  the  very  beginning  30 
of  this  stupendous  war;  and  I  cannot  help  thinking  that  if 
they  had  been  made  plain  at  the  very  outset  the  sympathy 
and  enthusiasm  of  the  Russian  people  might  have  been 
once  for  all  enlisted  on  the  side  of  the  Allies,  suspicion  and 


286  Woodrovv  Wilson 

distrust  swept  away,  and  a  real  and  lasting  union  of  pur 
pose  effected.  Had  they  believed  these  things  at  the  very 
moment  of  their  revolution  and  had  they  been  confirmed 
in  that  belief  since,  the  sad  reverses  which  have  recently 
5  marked  the  progress  of  their  affairs  towards  an  ordered  and 
stable  government  of  free  men  might  have  been  avoided. 
The  Russian  people  have  been  poisoned  by  the  very  same 
falsehoods  that  have  kept  the  German  people  in  the  dark, 
and  the  poison  has  been  administered  by  the  very  same 

10  hands.  The  only  possible  antidote  is  the  truth.  It  cannot 
be  uttered  too  plainly  or  too  often. 

From  every  point  of  view,  therefore,  it  has  seemed  to  be 
my  duty  to  speak  these  declarations  of  purpose,  to  add 
these  specific  interpretations  to  what  I  took  the  liberty  of 

15  saying  to  the  Senate  in  January.  Our  entrance  into  the 
war  has  not  altered  our  attitude  towards  the  settlement 
that  must  come  when  it  is  over.  When  I  said  in  January 
that  the  nations  of  the  world  were  entitled  not  only  to  free 
pathways  upon  the  sea  but  also  to  assured  and  unmolested 

20  access  to  those  pathways  I  was  thinking,  and  I  am  thinking 
now,  not  of  the  smaller  and  weaker  nations  alone,  which 
need  our  countenance  and  support,  but  also  of  the  great 
and  powerful  nations,  and  of  our  present  enemies  as  well 
as  our  present  associates  in  the  war.  I  was  thinking,  and 

25  am  thinking  now,  of  Austria  herself,  among  the  rest,  as 
well  as  of  Serbia  and  of  Poland.  Justice  and  equality  of 
rights  can  be  had  only  at  a  great  price.  We  are  seeking 
permanent,  not  temporary,  foundations  for  the  peace  of 
the  world  and  must  seek  them  candidly  and  fearlessly.  As 

30  always,  the  right  will  prove  to  be  the  expedient. 

What  shall  we  do,  then,  to  push  this  great  war  of  free 
dom  and  justice  to  its  righteous  conclusion?  We  must 
clear  away  with  a  thorough  hand  all  impediments  to  suc 
cess  and  we  must  make  every  adjustment  of  law  that  will 


The  Call  for  War  with  Austria-Hungary     287 

facilitate  the  full  and  free  use  of  our  whole  capacity  and 
force  as  a  fighting  unit. 

One  very  embarrassing  obstacle  that  stands  in  our  way 
is  that  we  are  at  war  with  Germany  but  not  with  her 
allies.     I  therefore  very  earnestly  recommend  that  the    5 
Congress  immediately  declare   the  United   States   in   a 
state  of  war  with  Austria-Hungary.    Does  it  seem  strange 
to  you  that  this  should  be  the  conclusion  of  the  argument 
I  have  just  addressed  to  you?    It  is  not.    It  is  in  fact  the 
inevitable  logic  of  what  I  have  said.    Austria-Hungary  is  10 
for  the  time  being  not  her  own  mistress  but  simply  the 
vassal  of  the  German  Government.     We  must  face  the 
facts  as  they  are  and  act  upon  them  without  sentiment 
in    this    stern   business.      The   government   of   Austria- 
Hungary  is  not  acting  upon  its  own  initiative  or  in  re-  15 
sponse  to  the  wishes  and  feelings  of  its  own  peoples  but 
as  the  instrument  of  another  nation.    We  must  meet  its 
force  with  our  own  and  regard  the  Central  Powers  as  but 
one.    The  war  can  be  successfully  conducted  in  no  other 
way.    The  same  logic  would  lead  also  to  a  declaration  of  20 
war  against  Turkey  and  Bulgaria.     They  also  are  the 
tools  of  Germany.    But  they  are  mere  tools  and  do  not 
yet  stand  in  the  direct  path  of  our  necessary  action.    We 
shall  go  wherever  the  necessities  of  this  war  carry  us,  but 
it  seems  to  me  that  we  should  go  only  where  immediate  25 
and  practical  considerations  lead  us  and  not  heed  any 
others. 

The  financial  and  military  measures  which  must  be 
adopted  will  suggest  themselves  as  the  war  and  its  under 
takings  develop,  but  I  will  take  the  liberty  of  proposing  30 
to  you  certain  other  acts  of  legislation  which  seem  to  me 
to  be  needed  for  the  support  of  the  war  and  for  the  release 
of  our  whole  force  and  energy. 

It  will  be  necessary  to  extend  in  certain  particulars  the 


288  Woodrow  Wilson 

legislation  of  the  last  session  with  regard  to  alien  enemies; 
and  also  necessary,  I  believe,  to  create  a  very  definite 
and  particular  control  over  the  entrance  and  departure 
of  all  persons  into  and  from  the  United  States. 

5  Legislation  should  be  enacted  defining  as  a  criminal 
offense  every  wilful  violation  of  the  presidential  proclama 
tions  relating  to  alien  enemies  promulgated  under  sec 
tion  4067  of  the  Revised  Statutes  and  providing  appro 
priate  punishments;  and  women  as  well  as  men  should  be 

10  included  under  the  terms  of  the  acts  placing  restraints 
upon  alien  enemies.  It  is  likely  that  as  time  goes  on 
many  alien  enemies  will  be  willing  to  be  fed  and  housed 
at  the  expense  of  the  Government  in  the  detention  camps 
and  it  would  be  the  purpose  of  the  legislation  I  have  sug- 

15  gested  to  confine  offenders  among  them  in  penitentiaries 
and  other  similar  institutions  where  they  could  be  made 
to  work  as  other  criminals  do. 

Recent  experience  has  convinced  me  that  the  Congress 
must  go  further  in  authorizing  the  Government  to  set 

20  limits  to  prices.  The  law  of  supply  and  demand,  I  am 
sorry  to  say,  has  been  replaced  by  the  law  of  unrestrained 
selfishness.  While  we  have  eliminated  profiteering  in 
several  branches  of  industry  it  still  runs  impudently 
rampant  in  others.  The  farmers,  for  example,  complain 

25  with  a  great  deal  of  justice  that,  while  the  regulation  of 
food  prices  restricts  their  incomes,  no  restraints  are  placed 
upon  the  prices  of  most  of  the  things  they  must  themselves 
purchase;  and  similar  inequities  obtain  on  all  sides. 

It  is  imperatively  necessary  that  the  consideration  of 

30  the  full  use  of  the  water  power  of  the  country  and  also 
the  consideration  of  the  systematic  and  yet  economical 
development  of  such  of  the  natural  resources  of  the  coun 
try  as  are  still  under  the  control  of  the  federal  government 
should  be  immediately  resumed  and  affirmatively  and 


The  Call  for  War  with  Austria-Hungary     289 

constructively  dealt  with  at  the  earliest  possible  moment. 
The  pressing  need  of  such  legislation  is  daily  becoming 
more  obvious. 

The  legislation  proposed  at  the  last  session  with  regard 
to  regulated  combinations  among  our  exporters,  in  order    5 
to  provide  for  our  foreign  trade  a  more  effective  organiza 
tion  and  method  of  cooperation,  ought  by  all  means  to 
be  completed  at  this  session. 

And  I  beg  that  the  members  of  the  House  of  Represen 
tatives  will  permit  me  to  express  the  opinion  that  it  will  10 
be  impossible  to  deal  in  any  but  a  very  wasteful  and  ex 
travagant  fashion  with  the  enormous  appropriations  of 
the  public  moneys  which  must  continue  to  be  made,  if 
the  war  is  to  be  properly  sustained,  unless  the  House  will 
consent  to  return  to  its  former  practice  of  initiating  and  15 
preparing  all  appropriation  bills  through  a  single  com 
mittee,  in  order  that  responsibility  may  be  centered,  ex 
penditures  standardized  and  made  uniform,  and  waste 
and  duplication  as  much  as  possible  avoided. 

Additional  legislation  may  also  become  necessary  before  co 
the  present  Congress  again  adjourns  in  order  to  effect 
the  most  efficient  coordination  and  operation  of  the  rail 
way  and  other  transportation  systems  of  the  country; 
but  to  that  I  shall,  if  circumstances  should  demand,  call 
the  attention  of  the  Congress  upon  another  occasion.  25 

If  I  have  overlooked  anything  that  ought  to  be  done 
for  the  more  effective  conduct  of  the  war,  your  own  coun 
sels  will  supply  the  omission.  What  I  am  perfectly  clear 
about  is  that  in  the  present  session  of  the  Congress  our 
whole  attention  and  energy  should  be  concentrated  on  the  30 
vigorous,  rapid,  and  successful  prosecution  of  the  great 
task  of  winning  the  war. 

We  can  do  this  with  all  the  greater  zeal  and  enthusiasm 
because  we  know  that  for  us  this  is  a  war  of  high  principle, 


290  Woodrow  Wilson 


debased  by  no  selfish  ambition  of  conquest  or  spoliation; 
because  we  know,  and  all  the  world  knows,  that  we  have 
been  forced  into  it  to  save  the  very  institutions  we  live 
under  from  corruption  and  destruction.  The  purposes 
5  of  the  Central  Powers  strike  straight  at  the  very  heart  of 
everything  we  believe  in;  their  methods  of  warfare  outrage 
every  principle  of  humanity  and  of  knightly  honor;  their 
intrigue  has  corrupted  the  very  thought  and  spirit  of  many 
of  our  people;  their  sinister  and  secret  diplomacy  has 

10  sought  to  take  our  very  territory  away  from  us  and  dis 
rupt  the  Union  of  the  States.  Our  safety  would  be  at  an 
end,  our  honor  forever  sullied  and  brought  into  contempt 
were  we  to  permit  their  triumph.  They  are  striking  at 
the  very  existence  of  democracy  and  liberty. 

15  It  is  because  it  is  for  us  a  war  of  high,  disinterested  pur 
pose,  in  which  all  the  free  peoples  of  the  world  are  banded 
together  for  the  vindication  of  right,  a  war  for  the  pres 
ervation  of  our  nation  and  of  all  that  it  has  held  dear  of 
principle  and  of  purpose,  that  we  feel  ourselves  doubly 

20  constrained  to-  propose  for  its  outcome  only  that  which 
is  righteous  and  of  irreproachable  intention,  for  our  foes 
as  well  as  for  our  friends.  The  cause  being  just  and  holy, 
the  settlement  must  be  of  like  motive  and  quality.  For 
this  we  can  fight,  but  for  nothing  less  noble  or  less  worthy 

25  of  our  traditions.  For  this  cause  we  entered  the  war  and 
for  this  cause  will  we  battle  until  the  last  gun  is  fired. 

I  have  spoken  plainly  because  this  seems  to  me  the  time 
when  it  is  most  necessary  to  speak  plainly,  in  order  that 
all  the  world  may  know  that  even  in  the  heat  and  ardor 

30  of  the  struggle  and  when  our  whole  thought  is  of  carry 
ing  the  war  through  to  its  end  we  have  not  forgotten  any 
ideal  or  principle  for  which  the  name  of  America  has  been 
held  in  honor  among  the  nations  and  for  which  it  has  been 
our  glory  to  contend  in  the  great  generations  that  went 


The  Call  for  War  with  Austria-Hungary     291 

before  us.  A  supreme  moment  of  history  has  come.  The 
eyes  of  the  people  have  been  opened  and  they  see.  The 
hand  of  God  is  laid  upon  the  nations.  He  will  show  them 
favor,  I  devoutly  believe,  only  if  they  rise  to  the  clear 
heights  of  His  own  justice  and  mercy.  5 


GOVERNMENT    ADMINISTRATION    OF 
RAILWAYS 

[Address  delivered  at  a  joint  session  of  the  two  Houses  of  Congress, 
January  4,  1918.] 

GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  CONGRESS: 

I  have  asked  the  privilege  of  addressing  you  in  order  to 
report  to  you  that  on  the  twenty-eighth  of  December  last, 
during  the  recess  of  the  Congress,  acting  through  the 
5  Secretary  of  War  and  under  the  authority  conferred  upon 
me  by  the  Act  of  Congress  approved  August  29,  1916,  I 
took  possession  and  assumed  control  of  the  railway  lines 
of  the  country  and  the  systems  of  water  transportation 
under  their  control.  This  step  seemed  to  be  imperatively 

10  necessary  in  the  interest  of  the  public  welfare,  in  the 
presence  of  the  great  tasks  of  war  with  which  we  are  now 
dealing.  As  our  own  experience  develops  difficulties  and 
makes  it  clear  what  they  are,  I  have  deemed  it  my  duty  to 
remove  those  difficulties  wherever  I  have  the  legal  power 

15  to  do  so.  To  assume  control  of  the  vast  railway  systems 
of  the  country  is,  I  realize,  a  very  great  responsibility, 
but  to  fail  to  do  so  in  the  existing  circumstances  would 
have  been  a  much  greater.  I  assumed  the  less  responsi 
bility  rather  than  the  weightier. 

20  I  am  sure  that  I  am  speaking  the  mind  of  all  thoughtful 
Americans  when  I  say  that  it  is  our  duty  as  the  represen 
tatives  of  the  nation  to  do  everything  that  it  is  necessary 
to  do  to  secure  the  complete  mobilization  of  the  wiiole  re 
sources  of  America  by  as  rapid  and  effective  means  as  can 

25  be  found.  Transportation  supplies  all  the  arteries  of 
mobilization.  Unless  it  be  under  a  single  and  unified 

292 


Government  Administration  of  Railways     293 

direction,  the  whole  process  of  the  nation's  action  is  em 
barrassed. 

It  was  in  the  true  spirit  of  America,  and  it  was  right,  that 
we  should  first  try  to  effect  the  necessary  unification  under 
the  voluntary  action  of  those  who  were  in  charge  of  the  5 
great  railway  properties;  and  we  did  try  it.  The  directors 
of  the  railways  responded  to  the  need  promptly  and 
generously.  The  group  of  railway  executives  who  were 
charged  with  the  task  of  actual  coordination  and  general 
direction  performed  their  difficult  duties  with  patriotic  10 
zeal  and  marked  ability,  as  was  to  have  been  expected,  and 
did,  I  believe,  everything  that  it  was  possible  for  them  to 
do  in  the  circumstances.  If  I  have  taken  the  task  out  of 
their  hands,  it  has  not  been  because  of  any  dereliction  or 
failure  on  their  part  but  only  because  there  were  some  15 
things  which  the  Government  can  do  and  private  manage 
ment  cannot.  We  shall  continue  to  value  most  highly  the 
advice  and  assistance  of  these  gentlemen  and  I  am  sure  we 
shall  not  find  them  withholding  it. 

It  had  become  unmistakably  plain  that  only  under  20 
government  administration  can  the  entire  equipment  of 
the  several  systems  of  transportation  be  fully  and  un 
reservedly  thrown  into  a  common  service  without  in 
jurious     discrimination     against     particular     properties. 
Only  under  government  administration  can  an  absolutely  25 
unrestricted  and  unembarrassed  common  use  be  made  of 
all  tracks,  terminals,  terminal  facilities  and  equipment  of 
every  kind.    Only  under  that  authority  can  new  terminals 
be  constructed  and  developed  without  regard  to  the  re 
quirements  or  limitations  of  particular  roads.    But  under  30 
government  administration  all  these  things  will  be  possi 
ble, — not  instantly,  but  as  fast  as  practical  difficulties, 
which  cannot  be  merely  conjured  away,  give  way  before 
the  new  management. 


294  Woodrow  Wilson 

The  common  administration  will  be  carried  out  with  as 
little  disturbance  of  the  present  operating  organizations 
and  personnel  of  the  railways  as  possible.  Nothing  will  be 
altered  or  disturbed  which  it  is  not  necessary  to  disturb. 
5  We  are  serving  the  public  interest  and  safeguarding  the 
public  safety,  but  we  are  also  regardful  of  the  interest  of 
those  by  whom  these  great  properties  are  owned  and  glad 
to  avail  ourselves  of  the  experience  and  trained  ability  of 
those  who  have  been  managing  them.  It  is  necessary  that 

10  the  transportation  of  troops  and  of  war  materials,  of  food 
and  of  fuel,  and  of  everything  that  is  necessary  for  the  full 
mobilization  of  the  energies  and  resources  of  the  country, 
should  be  first  considered,  but  it  is  clearly  in  the  public 
interest  also  that  the  ordinary  activities  and  the  normal 

15  industrial  and  commercial  life  of  the  country  should  be 
interfered  with  and  dislocated  as  little  as  possible,  and  the 
public  may  rest  assured  that  the  interest  and  convenience 
of  the  private  shipper  will  be  as  carefully  served  and  safe 
guarded  as  it  is  possible  to  serve  and  safeguard  it  in  the 

20  present  extraordinary  circumstances. 

While  the  present  authority  of  the  Executive  suffices  for 
all  purposes  of  administration,  and  while  of  course  all 
private  interests  must  for  the  present  give  way  to  the 
public  necessity,  it  is,  I  am  sure  you  will  agree  with  me, 

25  right  and  necessary  that  the  owners  and  creditors  of  the 
railways,  the  holders  of  their  stocks  and  bonds,  should 
receive  from  the  Government  an  unqualified  guarantee 
that  their  properties  will  be  maintained  throughout  the 
period  of  federal  control  in  as  good  repair  and  as  complete 

30  equipment  as  at  present,  and  that  the  several  roads  will 
receive  under  federal  management  such  compensation  as  is 
equitable  and  just  alike  to  their  owners  and  to  the  general 
public.  I  would  suggest  the  average  net  railway  operating 
income  of  the  three  years  ending  June  30,  1917.  I  earnestly 


Government  Administration  of  Railways     295 

recommend  that  these  guarantees  be  given  by  appropriate 
legislation,  and  given  as  promptly  as  circumstances  permit. 

I  need  not  point  out  the  essential  justice  of  such  guar 
antees  and  their  great  influence  and  significance  as  ele 
ments  in  the  present  financial  and  industrial  situation  of  5 
the  country.  Indeed,  one  of  the  strong  arguments  for 
assuming  control  of  the  railroads  at  this  time  is  the  finan 
cial  argument.  It  is  necessary  that  the  values  of  railway 
securities  should  be  justly  and  fairly  protected  and  that 
the  large  financial  operations  every  year  necessary  in  con-  10 
nection  with  the  maintenance,  operation  and  development 
of  the  roads  should,  during  the  period  of  the  war,  be  wisely 
related  to  the  financial  operations  of  the  Government. 
Our  first  duty  is,  of  course,  to  conserve  the  common  inter 
est  and  the  common  safety  and  to  make  certain  that  15 
nothing  stands  in  the  way  of  the  successful  prosecution  of 
the  great  war  for  liberty  and  justice,  but  it  is  also  an  obliga 
tion  of  public  conscience  and  of  public  honor  that  the 
private  interests  we  disturb  should  be  kept  safe  from  un 
just  injury,  and  it  is  of  the  utmost  consequence  to  the  20 
Government  itself  that  all  great  financial  operations  should 
be  stabilized  and  coordinated  with  the  financial  operations 
of  the  Government.  No  borrowing  should  run  athwart  the 
borrowings  of  the  federal  treasury,  and  no  fundamental 
industrial  values  should  anywhere  be  unnecessarily  im-  25 
paired.  In  the  hands  of  many  thousands  of  small  in 
vestors  in  the  country,  as  well  as  in  national  banks,  in 
insurance  companies,  in  savings  banks,  in  trust  com 
panies,  in  financial  agencies  of  every  kind,  railway  se 
curities,  the  sum  total  of  which  runs  up  to  some  ten  or  30 
eleven  thousand  millions,  constitute  a  vital  part  of  the 
structure  of  credit,  and  the  unquestioned  solidity  of  that 
structure  must  be  maintained. 

The  Secretary  of  War  and  I  easily  agreed  that,  in  view 


296  Woodrow  Wilson 

of  the  many  complex  interests  which  must  be  safeguarded 
and  harmonized,  as  well  as  because  of  his  exceptional 
experience  and  ability  in  this  new  field  of  governmental 
action,  the  Honorable  William  G.  McAdoo  was  the  right 
5  man  to  assume  direct  administrative  control  of  this  new 
executive  task.  At  our  request,  he  consented  to  assume 
the  authority  and  duties  of  organizer  and  Director  General 
of  the  new  Railway  Administration.  He  has  assumed  those 
duties  and  his  work  is  in  active  progress. 

10  It  is  probably  too  much  to  expect  that  even  under  the 
unified  railway  administration  which  will  now  be  possible 
sufficient  economies  can  be  effected  in  the  operation  of  the 
railways  to  make  it  possible  to  add  to  their  equipment  and 
extend  their  operative  facilities  as  much  as  the  present 

15  extraordinary  demands  upon  their  use  will  render  desirable 
without  resorting  to  the  national  treasury  for  the  funds. 
If  it  is  not  possible,  it  will,  of  course,  be  necessary  to  resort 
to  the  Congress  for  grants  of  money  for  that  purpose.  The 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  will  advise  with  your  committees 

20  with  regard  to  this  very  practical  aspect  of  the  matter. 
For  the  present,  I  suggest  only  the  guarantees  I  have  in 
dicated  and  such  appropriations  as  are  necessary  at  the 
outset  of  this  task.  I  take  the  liberty  of  expressing  the 
hope  that  the  Congress  may  grant  these  promptly  and 

25  ungrudgingly.  We  are  dealing  with  great  matters  and 
will,  I  am  sure,  deal  with  them  greatly. 


THE  CONDITIONS  OF  PEACE 

[Address  delivered  at  a  joint  session  of  the  two  Houses  of  Congress, 
January  8,  1918.] 

GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  CONGRESS: 

Once  more,  as  repeatedly  before,  the  spokesmen  of  the 
Central  Empires  have  indicated  their  desire  to  discuss  the 
objects  of  the  war  and  the  possible  bases  of  a  general  peace. 
Parleys  have  been  in  progress  at  Brest-Litovsk  between    5 
Russian  representatives  and  representatives  of  the  Central 
Powers  to  which  the  attention  of  all  the  belligerents  has 
been  invited  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  whether  it 
may  be  possible  to  extend  these  parleys  into  a  general 
conference  with  regard  to  terms  of  peace  and  settlement.  10 
The  Russian  representatives  presented  not  only  a  per 
fectly  definite  statement  of  the  principles  upon  which  they 
would  be  willing  to  conclude  peace  but  also  an  equally 
definite   program   of   the   concrete   application   of   those 
principles.    The  representatives  of  the  Central  Powers,  on  15 
their  part,  presented  an  outline  of  settlement  which,  if 
much  less  definite,  seemed  susceptible  of  liberal  interpre 
tation  until  their  specific  program  of  practical  terms  was 
added.    ^That  program  proposed  no   concessions  at  all 
either  to  the  sovereignty  of  Russia  or  to  the  preferences  of  20 
the  populations  with  whose  fortunes  it  dealt,  but  meant, 
in  a  word,  that  the  Central  Empires  were  to  keep  every 
foot  of  territory  their  armed  forces  had  occupied, — every 
province,  every  city,  every  point  of  vantage, — as  a  per 
manent   addition   to   their   territories   and   their  power.  25 
It  is  a  reasonable  conjecture  that  the  general  principles 

297 


298  Woodrow  Wilson 

of  settlement  which  they  at  first  suggested  originated  with 
the  more  liberal  statesmen  of  Germany  and  Austria,  the 
men  who  have  begun  to  feel  the  force  of  their  own  peo 
ples'  thought  and  purpose,  while  the  concrete  terms  of 
5  actual  settlement  came  from  the  military  leaders  who 
have  no  thought  but  to  keep  what  they  have  got.  The 
negotiations  have  been  broken  off.  The  Russian  repre 
sentatives  were  sincere  and  in  earnest.  They  cannot 
entertain  such  proposals  of  conquest  and  domination. 

10  The  whole  incident  is  full  of  significance.  It  is  also  full 
of  perplexity.  With  whom  are  the  Russian  representatives 
dealing?  For  whom  are  the  representatives  of  the  Central 
Empires  speaking?  Are  they  speaking  for  the  majorities 
of  their  respective  parliaments  or  for  the  minority  parties, 

15  that  military  and  imperialistic  minority  which  has  so  far 
dominated  their  whole  policy  and  controlled  the  affairs  of 
Turkey  and  of  the  Balkan  states  which  have  felt  obliged  to 
become  their  associates  in  this  war?  The  Russian  repre 
sentatives  have  insisted,  very  justly,  very  wisely,  and  in  the 

20  true  spirit  of  modern  democracy,  that  the  conferences  they 
have  been  holding  with  the  Teutonic  and  Turkish  states 
men  should  be  held  within  open,  not  closed,  doors,  and  all 
the  world  has  been  audience,-  as  was  desired.  To  whom 
have  we  been  listening,  then?  To  those  who  speak  the 

25  spirit  and  intention  of  the  Resolutions  of  the  German 
Reichstag  of  the  ninth  of  July  last,  the  spirit  and  intention 
of  the  liberal  leaders  and  parties  of  Germany,  or  to  those 
who  resist  and  defy  that  spirit  and  intention  and  insist 
upon  conquest  and  subjugation?  Or  are  we  listening,  in 

30  fact,  to  both,  unreconciled  and  in  open  and  hopeless  con 
tradiction?     These  are  very  serious  and  pregnant  ques 
tions.    Upon  the  answer  to  them  depends  the  peace  of  the 
world. 
But,  whatever  the  results  of  the  parleys  at  Brest- 


The  Conditions  of  Peace  299 

Litovsk,  whatever  the  confusions  of  counsel  and  of  pur 
pose  in  the  utterances  of  the  spokesmen  of  the  Central 
Empires,  they  have  again  attempted  to  acquaint  the 
world  with  their  objects  in  the  war  and  have  again  chal 
lenged  their  adversaries  to  say  what  their  objects  are  and  5 
what  sort  of  settlement  they  would  deem  just  and  satis 
factory.  There  is  no  good  reason  why  that  challenge 
should  not  be  responded  to,  and  responded  to  with  the 
utmost  candor.  We  did  not  wait  for  it.  Not  once,  but 
again  and  again,  we  have  laid  our  whole  thought  and  10 
purpose  before  the  world,  not  in  general  terms  only,  but 
each  time  with  sufficient  definition  to  make  it  clear  what 
sort  of  definitive  terms  of  settlement  must  necessarily 
spring  out  of  them.  Within  the  last  week  Mr.  Lloyd 
George  has  spoken  with  admirable  candor  and  in  admirable  15 
spirit  for  the  people  and  Government  of  Great  Britain. 
There  is  no  confusion  of  counsel  among  the  adversaries 
of  the  Central  Powers,  no  uncertainty  of  principle,  no 
vagueness  of  detail.  The  only  secrecy  of  counsel,  the 
only  lack  of  fearless  frankness,  the  only  failure  to  make  20 
definite  statement  of  the  objects  of  the  war,  lies  with 
Germany  and  her  Allies.  The  issues  of  life  and  death 
hang  upon  these  definitions.  No  statesman  who  has  the 
least  conception  of  his  responsibility  ought  for  a  moment 
to  permit  himself  to  continue  this  tragical  and  appalling  25 
outpouring  of  blood  and  treasure  unless  he  is  sure  beyond 
a  peradventure  that  the  objects  of  the  vital  sacrifice  are 
part  and  parcel  of  the  very  life  of  society  and  that  the 
people  for  whom  he  speaks  think  them  right  and  impera 
tive  as  he  does.  30 

There  is,  moreover,  a  voice  calling  for  these  definitions 
of  principle  and  of  purpose  which  is,  it  seems  to  me,  more 
thrilling  and  more  compelling  than  any  of  the  many 
moving  voices  with  which  the  troubled  air  of  the  world  is 


300  Woodrow  Wilson 

filled.  It  is  the  voice  of  the  Russian  people.  They  are 
prostrate  and  all  but  helpless,  it  would  seem,  before  the 
grim  power  of  Germany,  which  has  hitherto  known  no 
relenting  and  no  pity.  Their  power,  apparently,  is  shat- 
5  tered.  And  yet  their  soul  is  not  subservient.  They  will 
not  yield  either  in  principle  or  in  action.  Their  concep 
tion  of  what  is  right,  of  what  it  is  humane  and  honorable 
for  them  to  accept,  has  been  stated  with  a  frankness,  a 
largeness  of  view,  a  generosity  of  spirit,  and  a  universal 

10  human  sympathy  which  must  challenge  the  admiration 
of  every  friend  of  mankind;  and  they  have  refused  to  com 
pound  their  ideals  or  desert  others  that  they  themselves 
may  be  safe.  They  call  to  us  to  say  what  it  is  that  we 
desire,  in  what,  if  in  anything,  our  purpose  and  our  spirit 

15  differ  from  theirs;  and  I  believe  that  the  people  of  the 
United  States  would  wish  me  to  respond,  with  utter  sim 
plicity  and  frankness.  Whether  their  present  leaders  be 
lieve  it  or  not,  it  is  our  heartfelt  desire  and  hope  that  some 
way  may  be  opened  whereby  we  may  be  privileged  to 

20  assist  the  people  of  Russia  to  attain  their  utmost  hope  of 
liberty  and  ordered  peace. 

It  will  be  our  wish  and  purpose  that  the  processes  of 
peace,  when  they  are  begun,  shall  be  absolutely  open  and 
that  they  shall  involve  and  permit  henceforth  no  secret 

25  understandings  of  any  kind.  The  day  of  conquest  and 
aggrandizement  is  gone  by;  so  is  also  the  day  of  secret 
covenants  entered  into  in  the  interest  of  particular  govern 
ments  and  likely  at  some  unlooked-for  moment  to  upset 
the  peace  of  the  world.  It  is  this  happy  fact,  now  clear 

30  to  the  view  of  every  public  man  whose  thoughts  do  not 
still  linger  in  an  age  that  is  dead  and  gone,  which  makes  it 
possible  for  every  nation  whose  purposes  are  consistent 
with  justice  and  the  peace  of  the  world  to  avow  now  or  at 
any  other  time  the  objects  it  has  in  view. 


IFU*T*-'    ^-  >*-     VAA.     w~  ^VUL" 

v 

The  Conditions  of  Peace  301 

We  entered  this  war  because  violations  of  right  had 
occurred  which  touched  us  to  the  quick  and  made  the 
life  of  our  own  people  impossible  unless  they  were  cor 
rected  and  the  world  secured  once  for  all  against  their 
recurrence.  What  we  demand  in  this  war,  therefore,  is 
nothing  peculiar  to  ourselves.  It  is  that  the  world  be 
made  fit  and  safe  to  live  in;  and  particularly  that  it  be 
made  safe  for  every  peace-loving  nation  which,  like  our 
own,  wishes  to  live  its  own  life,  determine  its  own  institu 
tions,  be  assured  of  justice  and  fair  dealing  by  the  other  10 
peoples  of  the  world  as  against  force  and  selfish  aggression.  \ 
All  the  peoples  of  the  world  are  in  effect  partners  in  this 
interest,  and  for  our  own  part  we  see  very  clearly  that 
unless  justice  be  done  to  others  it  will  not  be  done  to  us. 
The  program  of  the  world's  peace,  therefore,  is  our  pro-  15 
gram;  and  that  program,  the  only  possible  program, 
as  we  see  it,  is  this: 

I.  Open  covenants  of  peace,  openly  arrived  at,  after 
which  there  shall  be  no  private  international  understand 
ings  of  any  kind,  but  diplomacy  shall  proceed  always  20 
frankly  and  in  the  public  view. 

II.  Absolute  freedom  of  navigation  upon  the  seas,  out 
side  territorial  waters,  alike  in  peace  and  in  war,  except 
as  the  seas  may  be  closed  in  whole  or  in  part  by  interna 
tional  action  for  the  enforcement  of  international  cove-  25 
nants. 

III.  The  removal,  so  far  as  possible,  of  all  economic 
barriers  and  the  establishment  of  an  equality  of  trade 
conditions  among  all  the  nations  consenting  to  the  peace 
and  associating  themselves  for  its  maintenance.  30 

IV.  Adequate  guarantees  given  and  taken  that  national 
armaments  will  be  reduced  to  the  lowest  point  consistent 
with  domestic  safety. 

V.  A  free,  open-minded,  and  absolutely  impartial  ad- 


302  Woodrow  Wilson 

justment  of  all  colonial  claims,  based  upon  a  strict  ob 
servance  of  the  principle  that  in  determining  all  such 
questions  of  sovereignty  the  interests  of  the  populations 
concerned  must  have  equal  weight  with  the  equitable 
5  claims  of  the  government  whose  title  is  to  be  determined. 
VI.  The  evacuation  of  all  Russian  territory  and  such  a 
settlement  of  all  questions  affecting  Russia  as  will  secure 
the  best  and  freest  cooperation  of  the  other  nations  of 
the  world  in  obtaining  for  her  an  unhampered  and  unem- 

10  barrassed  opportunity  for  the  independent  determina 
tion  of  her  own  political  development  and  national  policy 
and  assure  her  of  a  sincere  welcome  into  the  society  of 
free  nations  under  institutions  of  her  own  choosing;  and, 
more  than  a  welcome,  assistance  also  of  every  kind  that 

15  she  may  need  and  may  herself  desire.  The  treatment 
accorded  Russia  by  her  sister  nations  in  the  months  to 
come  will  be  the  acid  test  of  their  good  will,  of  their  com 
prehension  of  her  needs  as  distinguished  from  their  own 
interests,  and  of  their  intelligent  and  unselfish  sympathy. 

20  VII.  Belgium,  the  whole  world  will  agree,  must  be 
evacuated  and  restored,  without  any  attempt  to  limit  the 
sovereignty  which  she  enjoys  in  common  with  all  other 
free  nations.  No  other  single  act  will  serve  as  this  will 
serve  to  restore  confidence  among  the  nations  in  the  laws 

25  which  they  have  themselves  set  and  determined  for  the 
government  of  their  relations  with  one  another.  Without 
this  healing  act  the  whole  structure  and  validity  of  inter 
national  law  is  forever  impaired. 

VIII.  All  French  territory  should  be  freed  and  the  in- 

30  vaded  portions  restored,  and  the  wrong  done  to  France 
by  Prussia  in  1871  in  the  matter  of  Alsace-Lorraine,  which 
has  unsettled  the  peace  of  the  world  for  nearly  fifty  years, 
should  be  righted,  in  order  that  peace  may  once  more  be 
made  secure  in  the  interest  of  all. 


The  Conditions  of  Peace  303 

IX.  A  readjustment  of  the  frontiers  of  Italy  should  be 
effected  along  clearly  recognizable  lines  of  nationality. 

X.  The    peoples    of    Austria-Hungary,    whose    place 
among  the  nations  we  wish  to  see  safeguarded  and  as 
sured,  should  be  accorded  the  freest  opportunity  of  au-    5 
tonomous  development. 

XI.  Rumania,    Serbia,    and    Montenegro    should    be 
evacuated;  occupied  territories  restored;  Serbia  accorded 
free  and  secure  access  to  the  sea;  and  the  relations  of  the 
several   Balkan   states   to   one   another   determined   by  10 
friendly   counsel  along  historically   established   lines   of 
allegiance  and  nationality;  and  international  guarantees 

of  the  political  and  economic  independence  and  territorial 
integrity  of  the  several  Balkan  states  should  be  entered 
into.  15 

XII.  The  Turkish  portions  of  the  present  Ottoman 
Empire  should  be  assured  a  secure  sovereignty,  but  the 
other  nationalities  which  are  now  under  Turkish  rule 
should  be  assured  an  undoubted  security  of  life  and  an 
absolutely  unmolested  opportunity   of  autonomous  de-  20 
velopment,  and  the  Dardanelles  should  be  permanently 
opened  as  a  free  passage  to  the  ships  and  commerce  of  all 
nations  under  international  guarantees. 

XIII.  An  independent  Polish  state  should  be  erected 
which  should  include  the  territories  inhabited  by  indis-  25 
putably  Polish  populations,  which  should  be  assured  a 
free  and  secure  access  to  the  sea,  and  whose  political  and 
economic  independence  and  territorial  integrity  should 
be  guaranteed  by  international  covenant. 

XIV.  A  general  association  of  nations  must  be  formed  30 
under  specific  covenants  for  the  purpose  of  affording  mu 
tual  guarantees  of  political  independence  and  territorial 
integrity  to  great  and  small  states  alike. 

In  regard  to  these  essential  rectifications  of  wrong  and 


L     vj 
304  Wood  row  Wilson 

assertions  of  right  we  feel  ourselves  to  be  intimate  partners 
of  all  the  governments  and  peoples  associated  together 
against  the  Imperialists.  We  cannot  be  separated  in  in 
terest  or  divided  in  purpose.  We  stand  t6gether  until  the 
5  end. 

For  such  arrangements  and  covenants  we  are  willing 
to  fight  and  to  continue  to  fight  until  they  are  achieved; 
but  only  because  we  wish  the  right  to  prevail  and  desire 
a  just  and  stable  peace  such  as  can  be  secured  only  by 

10  removing  the  chief  provocations  to  war,  which  this  pro 
gram  does  remove.  We  have  no  jealousy  of  German 
greatness,  and  there  is  nothing  in  this  program  that 
impairs  it.  We  grudge  her  no  achievement  or  distinction 
of  learning  or  of  pacific  enterprise  such  as  have  made 

'15  her  record  very  bright  and  very  enviable.  We  do  not 
wish  to  injure  her  or  to  block  in  any  way  her  legitimate 
influence  or  power.  We  do  not  wish  to  fight  her  either 
with  arms  or  with  hostile  arrangements  of  trade  if  she  is 
willing  to  associate  herself  with  us  and  the  other  peace- 

20  loving  nations  of  the  world  in  covenants  of  justice  and 
law  and  fair  dealing.    We  wish  her  only  to  accept  a  place 
of  equality  among  the  peoples  of  the  world, — the  new 
;  world  in  which  we  now  live, — instead  of  a  place  of  mas 
tery. 

25  Neither  do  we  presume  to  suggest  to  her  any  alteration 
or  modification  of  her  institutions.  But  it  is  necessary, 
we  must  frankly  say,  and  necessary  as  a  preliminary  to 
any  intelligent  dealings  with  her  on  our  part,  that  we 
should  know  whom  her  spokesmen  speak  for  when  they 

30  speak  to  us,  whether  for  the  Reichstag  majority  or  for 
the  military  party  and  the  men  whose  creed  is  imperial 
domination. 

We  have  spoken  now,  surely,  in  terms  too  concrete  to 
admit  of  any  further  doubt  or  question.  An  evident  prin- 


The  Conditions  of  Peace  305 

ciple  runs  through  the  whole  program  I  have  outlined. 
It  is  the  principle  of  justice  to  all  peoples  and  nationalities, 
and  their  right  to  live  on  equal  terms  of  liberty  and  safety 
with  one  another,  whether  they  be  strong  or  weak.  Un 
less  this  principle  be  maHelts  foundation  no  part  of  the 
structure  of  international  justice  can  stand.  The  people 
of  the  United  States  could  act  upon  no  other  principle; 
and  to  the  vindication  of  this  principle  they  are  ready  to 
devote  their  lives,  their  honor,  and  everything  that  they 
possess.  The  moral  climax  of  this  the  culminating  and  10 
final  war  for  human  liberty  has  come,  and  they  are  ready 
to  put  their  own  strength,  their  own  highest  purpose, 
their  own  integrity  and  devotion  to  the  test. 


FORCE  TO  THE  UTMOST 

[Speech  at  the  Opening  of  the  Third  Liberty  Loan  Campaign,  de 
livered  in  the  Fifth  Regiment  Armory,  Baltimore,  April  6,  1918.] 

FELLOW-CITIZENS: 

This  is  the  anniversary  of  our  acceptance  of  Germany's 
challenge  to  fight  for  our  right  to  live  and  be  free,  and  for 
the  sacred  rights  of  freemen  everywhere.  The  nation  is 

s  awake.  There  is  no  need  to  call  to  it.  We  know  what  the 
war  must  cost,  our  utmost  sacrifice,  the  lives  of  our  fittest 
men,  and,  if  need  be,  all  that  we  possess. 

The  loan  we  are  met  to  discuss  is  one  of  the  least  parts 
of  what  we  are  called  upon  to  give  and  to  do,  though  in 

10  itself  imperative.  The  people  of  the  whole  country  are 
alive  to  the  necessity  of  it,  and  are  ready  to  lend  to  the 
utmost,  even  where  it  involves  a  sharp  skimping  and  daily 
sacrifice  to  lend  out  of  meagre  earnings.  They  will  look 
with  reprobation  and  contempt  upon  those  who  can  and 

15  will  not,  upon  those  who  demand  a  higher  rate  of  interest, 
upon  those  who  think  of  it  as  a  mere  commercial  trans 
action.  I  have  not  come,  therefore,  to  urge  the  loan.  I 
have  come  only  to  give  you,  if  I  can,  a  more  vivid  concep 
tion  of  what  it  is  for. 

20  The  reasons  for  this  great  war,  the  reason  why  it  had  to 
come,  the  need  to  fight  it  through,  and  the  issues  that  hang 
upon  its  outcome,  are  more  clearly  disclosed  now  than  ever 
before.  It  is  easy  to  see  just  what  this  particular  loan 
means,  because  the  cause  we  are  fighting  for  stands  more 

25  sharply  revealed  than  at  any  previous  crisis  of  the  momen 
tous  struggle.    The  man  who  knows  least  can  now  see 
306 


Force  to  the  Utmost  307 

plainly  how  the  cause  of  justice  stands,  and  what  is  the 
imperishable  thing  he  is  asked  to  invest  in.  Men  in 
America  may  be  more  sure  than  they  ever  were  before  that 
the  cause  is  their  own,  and  that,  if  it  should  be  lost,  their 
own  great  nation's  place  and  mission  in  the  world  would  5 
be  lost  with  it. 

I  call  you  to  witness,  my  fellow-countrymen,  that  at  no 
stage  of  this  terrible  business  have  I  judged  the  purposes  of 
Germany  intemperately.  I  should  be  ashamed  in  the 
presence  of  affairs  so  grave,  so  fraught  with  the  destinies  10 
of  mankind  throughout  all  the  world,  to  speak  with  tru- 
culence,  to  use  the  weak  language  of  hatred  or  vindictive 
purpose.  We  must  judge  as  we  would  be  judged.  I  have 
sought  to  learn  the  objects  Germany  has  in  this  war  from 
the  mouth's  of  her  own  spokesmen,  and  to  deal  as  frankly  15 
with  them  as  I  wished  them  to  deal  with  me.  I  have  laid 
bare  our  own  ideals,  our  own  purposes,  without  reserve  or 
doubtful  phrase,  and  have  asked  them  to  say  as  plainly 
what  it  is  that  they  seek. 

We  have  ourselves  proposed  no  injustice,  no  aggression.  20 
We  are  ready,  whenever  the  final  reckoning  is  made,  to  be 
just  to  the  German  people,  deal  fairly  with  the  German 
power,  as  with  all  others.    There  can  be  no  difference  be 
tween  peoples  in  the  final  judgment,  if  it  is  indeed  to  be  a 
righteous  judgment.     To  propose  anything  but  justice,  25 
even-handed  and  dispassionate  justice,   to  Germany  at 
any  time,  whatever  the  outcome  of  the  war,  would  be  to 
renounce  and  dishonor  our  own  cause,  for  we  ask  nothing 
that  we  are  not  willing  to  accord. 

It  has  been  with  this  thought  that  I  have  sought  to  30 
learn  from  those  who  spoke  for  Germany  whether  it  was 
justice  or  dominion  and  the  execution  of  their  own  will 
upon  the  other  nations  of  the  world  that  the  German 
leaders  were  seeking.    They  have  answered — answered  in 


308  Woodrow  Wilson 

unmistakable  terms.  They  have  avowed  that  it  was  not 
justice,  but  dominion  and  the  unhindered  execution  of 
their  own  will.  The  avowal  has  not  come  from  Germany's 
statesmen.  It  has  come  from  her  military  leaders,  who 
5  are  her  real  rulers.  Her  statesmen  have  said  that  they 
wished  peace,  and  were  ready  to  discuss  its  terms  whenever 
their  opponents  were  willing  to  sit  down  at  the  conference 
table  with  them.  Her  present  Chancellor  has  said — in 
indefinite  and  uncertain  terms,  indeed,  and  in  phrases  that 

10  often  seem  to  deny  their  own  meaning,  but  with  as  much 

plainness  as  he  thought  prudent — that  he  believed  that 

peace  should  be  based  upon  the  principles  which  we  had 

declared  would  be  our  own  in  the  final  settlement. 

At  Brest-Litovsk  her  civilian  delegates  spoke  in  similar 

15  terms;  professed  their  desire  to  conclude  a  fair 'peace  and 
accord  to  the  peoples  with  whose  fortunes  they  were 
dealing  the  right  to  choose  their  own  allegiances.  But 
action  accompanied  and  followed  the  profession.  Their 
military  masters,  the  men  who  act  for  Germany  and 

20  exhibit  her  purpose  in  execution,  proclaimed  a  very  differ 
ent  conclusion.  We  can  not  mistake  what  they  have 
done — in  Russia,  in  Finland,  in  the  Ukraine,  in  Rumania. 
The  real  test  of  their  justice  and  fair  play  has  come. 
From  this  we  may  judge  the  rest. 

25  They  are  enjoying  in  Russia  a  cheap  triumph  in  which 
no  brave  or  gallant  nation  can  long  take  pride.  A  great 
people,  helpless  by  their  own  act,  lies  for  the  time  at  their 
mercy.  Their  fair  professions  are  forgotten.  They  no 
where  set  up  justice,  but  everywhere  impose  their  power 

30  and  exploit  everything  for  their  own  use  and  aggrandize 
ment,  and  the  peoples  of  conquered  provinces  are  invited 
to  be  free  under  their  dominion! 

Are  we  not  justified  in  believing  that  they  would  do  the 
same  things  at  their  western  front  if  they  were  not  there 


Force  to  the  Utmost  309 


face  to  face  with  armies  whom  even  their  countless  divi 
sions  cannot  overcome?  If,  when  they  have  felt  their 
check  to  be  final,  they  should  propose  favorable  and 
equitable  terms  with  regard  to  Belgium  and  France  and 
Italy,  could  they  blame  us  if  we  concluded  that  they  did  5 
so  only  to  assure  themselves  of  a  free  hand  in  Russia  and 
the  East? 

Their  purpose  is,  undoubtedly,  to  make  all  the  Slavic 
peoples,  all  the  free  and  ambitious  nations  of  the  Baltic 
Peninsula,  all  the  lands  that  Turkey  has  dominated  and  10 
misruled,  subject  to  their  will  and  ambition,  and  build 
upon  that  dominion  an  empire  of  force  upon  which  they 
fancy  that  they  can  then  erect  an  empire  of  gain  and 
commercial    supremacy — an    empire    as    hostile    to    the 
Americas  as  to  the  Europe  which  it  will  overawe — an  15 
empire  which  will  ultimately  master  Persia,  India,  and 
the  peoples  of  the  Far  East. 

In  such  a  program  our  ideals,  the  ideals  of  justice  and 
humanity  and   liberty,    the  principle   of   the   free   self- 
determination  of  nations,   upon  which  all  the  modern  20 
world  insists,  can  play  no  part.    They  are  rejected  for  the 
ideals  of  power,  for  the  principle  that  the  strong  must  rule 
the  weak,  that  trade  must  follow  the  flag,  whether  those 
to  whom  it  is  taken  wrelcome  it  or  not,  that  the  peoples 
of  the  world  are  to  be  made  subject  to  the  patronage  25 
and  overlordship  of  those  who  have  the  power  to  en 
force  it. 

That  program  once  carried  out,  America  and  all  who 
care  or  dare  to  stand  with  her  must  arm  and  prepare  them 
selves  to  contest  the  mastery  of  the  world — a  mastery  30 
in  which  the  rights  of  common  men,  the  rights  of  women 
and  of  all  who  are  weak,  must  for  the  time  being  be 
trodden  underfoot  and  disregarded  and  the  old,  age-long 
struggle  for  freedom  and  right  begin  again  at  its  beginning. 


3io  Woodrow  Wilson 

Everything  that  America  has  lived  for  and  loved  and 
grown  great  to  vindicate  and  bring  to  a  glorious  realization 
will  have  fallen  in  utter  ruin  and  the  gates  of  mercy  once 
more  pitilessly  shut  upon  mankind ! 

5  The  thing  is  preposterous  and  impossible;  and  yet  is 
not  that  what  the  whole  course  and  action  of  the  German 
armies  has  meant  wherever  they  have  moved?  I  do  not 
wish,  even  in  this  moment  of  utte*  disillusionment,  to 
judge  harshly  or  unrighteously.  I  judge  only  what  the 

10  German  arms  have  accomplished  with  unpitying  thorough 
ness  throughout  every  fair  region  they  have  touched. 

What,  then  are  we  to  do?  For  myself,  I  am  ready,  ready 
still,  ready  even  now,  to  discuss  a  fair  and  just  and  honest 
peace  at  any  time  that  it  is  sincerely  purposed — a  peace  in 

15  which  the  strong  and  the  weak  shall  fare  alike.  But  the 
answer,  when  I  proposed  such  a  peace,  came  from  the 
German  commanders  in  Russia  and  I  cannot  mistake  the 
meaning  of  the  answer. 

I  accept  the  challenge.    I  know  that  you  accept  it.    All 

20  the  world  shall  know  that  you  accept  it.  It  shall  appear 
in  the  utter  sacrifice  and  self-forgetfulness  with  which  we 
shall  give  all  that  we  love  and  all  that  we  have  to  redeem 
the  world  and  make  it  fit  for  free  men  like  ourselves  to  live 
in.  This  now  is  the  meaning  of  all  that  we  do.  Let  every- 

25  thing  that  we  say,  my  fellow-countrymen,  everything  that 
we  henceforth  plan  and  accomplish,  ring  true  to  this  re 
sponse  till  the  majesty  and  might  of  our  concerted 
power  shall  fill  the  thought  and  utterly  defeat  the  force  of 
those  who  flout  and  misprize  what  we  honor  and  hold 

30  dear. 

Germany  has  once  more  said  that  force,  and  force  alone, 
shall  decide  whether  justice  and  peace  shall  reign  in  the 
affairs  of  men,  whether  right  as  America  conceives  it  or 
dominion  as  she  conceives  it  shall  determine  the  destinies 


Force  to  the  Utmost  311 

of  mankind.  There  is,  therefore,  but  one  response  possible 
from  us:  Force,  force  to  the  utmost,  force  without  stint  or 
limit,  the  righteous  and  triumphant  force  which  shall 
make  right  the  law  of  the  world  and  cast  every  selfish 
dominion  down  in  the  dust.  5 


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